The Summer Camp Situation

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By Andrea Delbanco

Editor in Chief, TIME for Kids

Somehow, it’s officially summer! School let out last week, and one of my girls is already off to sleepaway camp. Due to conflicting sports schedules, they’re attending camp consecutively this summer, with zero overlap. The past three summers, my husband and I cherished their two shared weeks away. We luxuriated in eating dinner after sunset and sleeping past sunrise. But now that our girls are older and more self-sufficient, not having that time is less of a loss. In fact, it’s a pleasure to have time with each of them. It’s also a privilege that we can manage it—for working parents, summer logistics are often harder (and more expensive) than those of the school year.

A TIME article that ran earlier this month shares a much more serious perspective on this topic. In “When Summer Camp Doesn’t Work for Your Kid,” Rebecca Gale highlights how camp is effectively another aspect of the child care crisis in this country. “The very safeguards in place to allow schools to accommodate a child’s unique needs evaporate during the summer months,” she says. “We need the federal infrastructure for a child care system that operates year round and is modeled on the K–12 education system.”

What are your summer plans? Write to me at andrea@time.com.

Best,
Andrea