A friend of mine who is an extremely successful musician told us that he spent a lot of his childhood at Camps in Tallebudgera. Although he is the least surfie you could imagine, I was intrigued by this idea of American summer camps. He said that it was a great way to get him out of his house during the long summer holidays.
The Simpsons have parodied summer camps, and Bill Murray used them as the basis for his movie Meatballs. Those born in the late 1970s or early 1980s were scared stiff of being left at [Camp Crystal Lake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_(franchise) from the Friday the 13th franchise.
In the USA and Canada, they are very popular, as many children spend their summer holidays at camp. Why? Why?
What is summer camp all about?
Summer camps in Australia are often associated with idyllic woods and lakes, where children can be active and healthy. You might be surprised to learn that there are now all kinds of camps, such as band camps, Computer camps, and even Business camps, for budding entrepreneurs or CEOs.
Their origins are less specialized. In the 1880s, they were popularised as part of the Back-to-Nature movement in America, Canada, Europe, and the UK. They also criticized the camps for being part of a mythical pastoral retreat and rejuvenation. In a book about summer camps, A Manufactured Wilderness, centers were accused of:
The wholesale commodification and exploitation of rural areas to satisfy the desires and needs of tourists, who were attracted by the idea of rural life and the goods and services available there. This process was usually intended to give urban dwellers an allegedly authentic encounter with folklife — which itself is a cultural construct of the late nineteenth century.
The summer camps were also criticized for being too controlled and dominated by an approach similar to a school. This did not allow children the freedom they needed to be themselves. This was, however, the goal of the camps. Henry Gibson said that children in the 1890s (mostly boys) were:
Have you ever wasted your summer days on city streets or in amusement parks or hotels?
What are the benefits of a telemedicine system?
The American Camp Association is right to tout the benefits of camps. In 2010, they claim, more than 11,000,000 US children and adults attended camps, a sector worth over $US15 billion. The camp staff is also from outside of the US. They claim that the bases are a way to expose campers to other cultures.
First fires in North America. Camp Pinewood, CC BY
The camps also want to help the campers develop their community skills. The American Camp Association states that over half of the centers offer some sort of community service program, such as clean-ups or food drives. Other centers focus on challenge courses and ropes course facilities.
American Camp Association reports that parents also benefit from a safe, friendly environment that encourages children to try new things, experiment, and build self-confidence.
It’s also claimed that they can stop a “learning slide” which happens during the summer break, as children continue to learn while on “holiday.” The idea that summer learning loss occurs is especially important for children who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds (see Here, Here, and Here).