Parenting : Camps in Step With Changing Times : Many groups are adding high-tech programs, although traditional activities remain very popular.
Paul Emmer of Northridge, 11, has attended camp every summer for the past eight years. But despite his ample camping expertise, Paul can not remember ever sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows or engaging in sing-alongs and ghost stories. Ask him what he does at Sierra Canyon Day Camp in Chatsworth, and he’ll yak about magic lessons and Mac computers, go-carts and racing cars, and field trips to Raging Waters and Venice Beach.
As Paul’s experience illustrates, camps have undoubtedly changed since the parents of today’s campers were kids--but perhaps not as much as one might think. After all, Paul also lists arts and crafts, fishing and swimming among his favorite camp activities. “Everything is interesting and really, really fun,” he said.
“What’s new is old,” said Saul Rowen, who has operated Cali-Camp Day Camp in Topanga for 39 years. “Children still love arts and crafts, creative dramatization and the things we had years ago, but they may be presented in a different way nowadays. We still expose children to the natural environment, give them an opportunity to be very self-reliant and teach them skills that are different from what they have been taught in school.”
According to Shirley Walch, executive director of the Calabasas-based Southern California section of the American Camping Assn., most camps continue to offer an array of traditional activities. “But they also incorporate what’s hot in society--everything from windsurfing to jet skiing to video making,” she said. “Camps keep pace with the interests of families and children, especially in terms of high-tech activities.”
But the most popular camp offerings call for neither expensive equipment nor technological wizardry. Several camp directors said horseback riding remains a favorite among campers, especially girls. Boys continue to gravitate to sports. And the youngest campers love it all. “The little kids are the easiest to please. Everything excites them,” Walch said.
To keep up with the latest trends, old camp-time favorites often take on a new look. For example, because today’s youth are more aware of the environment than previous generations, arts and crafts are likely to incorporate finds from nature, such as dried leaves, thistles and pine cones. Dramatic presentations may include rap songs.
“The kids’ interests spring from what they see on TV or are taught in school,” Rowen said. “We also have to realize that counselors today are different from 30 years ago.”
In response to children’s shifting interests, Rowen eliminated roller-skating and added dune buggies and go-carts to the repertoire of offerings at Cali-Camp. “Many of us look at motorized off-road vehicles and say it is not a true camp activity,” he said. “But children have needs, and their needs change.”
Other sports recently added at many camps include rock climbing, rappelling and ropes challenge courses--activities in which kids, strapped in harnesses and dangling from ropes, tackle telephone poles, vertical walls and balance beams many feet off the ground. Such deeds of derring-do build self-confidence and encourage teamwork, while fulfilling children’s need for excitement, according to Tom Stephens, director of Cottontail Ranch, a resident camp in Malibu.
“Everybody is looking for adventure,” he said. “Kids are getting more adventurous; our whole society has become more adventurous.”
Specialty camps that focus on a single activity or theme are often offered as a separate program within a traditional day camp. Listed in the American Camping Assn’s. directory of accredited Southern California camps, for example, are water skiing and weight loss camps, baseball and soccer camps, acting and academic camps, and astronomy and oceanography camps.
While some specialty camps concentrate on a single area of interest or instruction, others offer split-day programs, with a few hours devoted to the specialty and the rest of the day spent on general camp activities.
“Specialty camps come and go depending on what’s popular at the moment,” Walch said. “Single-sport camps are very popular.”
Computer camps continue to be among the most common specialty camps around the San Fernando Valley. “We got on the computer bandwagon 12 years ago,” Rowen said. “Every year, we think it will not work because children have computers in school and in their homes. But many children take it year after year.”
Computers are also popular at Sierra Canyon, which offers specialty Macintosh and baseball camps. “Our specialty camps are based on what kids want and what parents ask for,” camp director Steve Schachter said. “Parents come to us and say, ‘Why don’t you offer baseball camp? Why don’t you offer a computer camp?’ So we offer them.”
Sue Emmer decided against baseball camp for her sons, Paul and Scott, 6. “My feeling is the kids play so much baseball during the year. Enough!” she said. “But computers are very ‘now.’ There are new computer programs to learn, and I think kids are more interested than ever. I just started to learn computers over the last couple of years myself, and I would love to spend a week playing with different programs and seeing what is available.”
As a child, Emmer, 40, attended camp every summer. She compares her camping experiences with that of her sons. “Except for the computers, there are not a lot of differences between then and now,” she said. “The kids still do the swimming and hiking. They still get on a horse, bring home crafts and go on field trips. Kids may be different today, but I don’t think camps have changed terribly.”
Checking Out Facilities
The American Camping Assn. offers a free directory of accredited camps in Southern California. Call (818) 223-9232. The association also publishes a nationwide directory of more than 2,000 accredited camps for $12.95 (price includes shipping). Call (800) 428-CAMP.
The Western Assn. of Independent Camps offers a free directory of summer camps in California and eight other Western states. Call (800) 758-7519.
Ask the Camp Director
Before settling on a camp, parents should visit the camp while it is in operation and ask the camp director questions about anything that concerns them.
The American Camping Assn. suggests that parents get answers to the following questions:
* What is the background of the director? Camp directors should have completed recent in-service training and have administrative camp experience.
* What is the camp’s philosophy? Does the camp promote competition among teams? Or does it foster non-competitive, cooperative learning?
Are activities geared to a particular age group or skill level?
* What is the ratio of counselors to campers? In sleep-away camps, depending on the ages of young participants, ratios should range from one staff member for every six campers age 6 to 8 to one staff member for every 10 teen-age campers.
For day camps, suggested ratios range from one staff member for every eight young campers to one staff member for every 12 teen-age campers.
* What is the transportation system? How often are vehicles used? How often are they inspected?
* How old are the counselors? Most of them should be 18 or older; all should be at least two years older than the campers.
If swimming is included in activities, are qualified lifeguards on duty at all times?
* What percentage of campers return each year? A high proportion of returning campers usually indicates satisfaction with the camp.
* How are special needs handled? What provisions and facilities are available for special requirements?
Is a nurse on staff? Where is insulin or medication stored? What care is provided for children who become ill?
* Are references available? Check them out.
