Tips on Trips and Camps just wrapped up our annual meeting of all 12 of our advisors; three days of hearing from summer program directors, sharing key takeaways from over 80 camp visits in Summer 2024, exchanging ideas of how best to serve our clients, and enjoying each other’s company as we look toward Summer 2025. The word that comes to mind after these inspiring few days is collaboration. Collaboration informs so much of what Tips does – we work together to understand the key offerings of each camp and teen program and match those to our clients’ needs and the interests of their children.
Summer offers a unique opportunity for kids and teens to learn collaboration. Campers have to cooperate to right a capsized sailboat. Students collaborate when preparing to summit a peak on an adventure trip. They team up to provide service work in communities around the world. And they work together on big ideas in academic programs on university campuses. These collaborative experiences serve them not only in their summer camp or teen program, but also throughout their lives: in the classroom, on the job, and in their relationships.
Give your kids the chance to learn a skill they will use forever, and let Tips advisors collaborate with you to find the best camp, trip, or academic experience. We are here to help!
There is a sign that hangs in our summer cottage that reads, “If you get lost, come straight back to camp.” The quote is attributed to L.L. Bean, who posted this directive on the wall of his own hunting camp in Northern Maine in the early 1900s. I am reminded of it as the kids go back to school and the memories of camp slowly begin to be replaced by classes, sports commitments, and the rhythms of the fall schedule.
My 14-year old loves creating “countdowns” on her phone: the countdown to spring break, her birthday, the release of the new Taylor Swift album, etc. But the longest countdown by far, the one she begins months and months ahead of time, is her countdown to sleepaway camp. Though the countdown technically starts the day she comes home from camp each summer, it really begins in earnest on New Year’s Day. At that point, there are nearly 200 days until the start of camp, and cold days with little light don’t feel much like a beautiful summer day on the lake. But weekly check-ins with camp friends, mementos from last summer on her bulletin board, and the friendship bracelets that are still on her wrist remind her that camp is never really that far away.
In his latest book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” Jonathan Haidt explores the rise of anxiety in children and teens. Haidt details many factors contributing to increased anxiety and a decline in youth mental health, and points to two key issues: 1. a lack of unstructured play and appropriate risk-taking, and 2. the rise of technology and widespread use of smart phones. As parents, we know his observations are true. Kids are on their phones too much and missing out on real connections with their peers. As a result, we are raising more anxious, lonely, and depressed kids. Despite these disturbing trends, Haidt is hopeful and prescribes four key solutions we can implement as a community:
