A World of Summer Learning for Teens

Don’t expect to see too many teens deepening their tans or browsing the mall this summer for hours at a stretch. They’re too busy.

They’re working at an Israeli orphanage, teaching English in Cuba and building houses in the rural South. Others are testing their stamina by cross-country biking, rock climbing in Colorado, white-water rafting in Oregon or sailing in the British Virgin Islands. They’re perfecting their stage skills at Northwestern University, their writing at Cornell University and their knowledge of marine science at UC San Diego. They’re traveling abroad--to England, France, even Australia and Tibet.

All this without Mom and Dad, who are forking over several thousand dollars so that their teens can have a spectacular educational-but-fun experience away from home, learning about themselves and the world.

Shawna Barrett’s twin daughters hiked Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail last summer while their older brother sailed with a group of French teens in France. “I stayed home and went to movies,” she said, laughing. The money, said Barrett, who lives in Connecticut and is sending her daughters on a trip to British Columbia this year, is well spent: “There’s nothing to match the thrill of a big accomplishment like that.”

Anna Himmelrich, a 17-year-old from Baltimore, spent last summer working in a small Ecuadorean village building chicken coops, among other projects, with a group from the respected Vermont-based Putney Student Travel organization. “I loved that we didn’t do what tourists would,” she said.

The teens walked half an hour to work each day, spending the night in a sleeping bag on a dirt floor. “My reasons were 98% selfish and 2% save the world,” Himmelrich said. “I wanted a totally different experience.”

Thousands of parents and teens seem to agree, signing on for a record number of travel and learning experiences that are different from the conventional bus tours or backpacking trips the baby boomers took after college. “Parents are always telling us they wish they had had these opportunities,” said Jeff Shumlin of Putney Travel.

On the Web, https://www.petersons.com now lists more than 2,500 programs in a comprehensive guide to summer teen activities--nine times as many as a decade ago, said Susan Greenberg, who directs the research for the annual 1,800-page guide (available for $29.95 at major bookstores or on the Web). Some of the summer programs may still have room.

“Every year there are more programs,” Greenberg said. “And they’re more exotic--everything from learning to fly a plane to studying whales to following ancient treasure maps in Asia.”

There have never been as many teens, either--more than 13.6 million high-schoolers and 10.9 million in middle schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education. And their numbers continue to swell as the children of the baby boomers grow up: Just in the next decade, secondary-school enrollment will increase by 9%. California alone will have an additional 261,000 high school students.

But camp no longer cuts it for this generation, and working parents are no longer content to leave teens to their own devices all day. “Safety is a big issue,” said Peg Smith, executive director of the American Camping Assn.

So is education--and building that ever-important college resume. More than 700 young scholars will be heading to Cornell University this summer, earning college credits. Harvard, Northwestern and other campuses across the country will host thousands more. “Kids think these programs will make their freshman year easier,” said Abby Eller, director of the selective Cornell summer program for high school students, which offers college and career counseling along with courses. (Access summer programs by visiting college Web sites.)

Parents are acutely aware that their children will live and work in a global economy. “They understand how important it is for these teens to appreciate diversity and complexity,” Smith said.

Teens are so well traveled these days that they’re much more open to exotic, adventurous experiences, said Greenberg, of the Peterson’s organization.

The strong economy helps boost interest in such programs, but Smith of the American Camping Assn. noted that many teens get scholarship help for adventure trips such as Outward Bound, as well as campus programs. Call Outward Bound at (888) 882-6863, Internet https://www.outwardbound.com.

Other youngsters work all year to finance their summers or go home after their adventure to pump gas or work as a lifeguard for several weeks before school starts. And some programs, like Habitat for Humanity’s summer Youth Blitz programs, cost virtually nothing. Call (800) 422-4828, Internet https://www.habitat.org.

Big bucks or no, many kids and their parents count these trips a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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Taking the Kids appears the first and third week of every month.