Summer Camp

This summer about five million American children will make their way to summer camp, and remarkably almost 90 percent will experience some form of homesickness.

Eight-year-old Chelsea talks about her experience at camp last year, “I was scared, once I was crying when I was seven, for my mommy.”

Beyond the nine in ten camp-goers who experience some form of homesickness, seven percent of all camp-goers experience severe symptoms, including bed-wetting, excessive crying, and sleeplessness. Experts say parents in those cases should talk with the camp director and their child. If everyone agrees the child is not adapting well at all to camp, it may be time to pull the plug. However, in most cases parents are right to encourage their child to stick it out, but experts say it helps to plan in advance. “So you don’t want to just go from where the child has only been in the house, in his room for six years and never anywhere else, to a month at camp, that’s too big a jump,” states Dr. Terry Orme, child psychologist.

Some ways to ease the adjustment are to visit the camp beforehand with your child, and to encourage your child’s independence throughout the year by promoting activities such as sleeping over at a friend’s house.

 What Parents Should Know

Homesick. It’s the word parents hate to hear and feel helpless to cope with. However, parents should understand that homesickness at camp is also the norm. A recent University of California study revealed 83 percent of the children tested in a resident camp system said they were homesick at least one day of camp, if not much more. So what’s the prescription for feeling better? Patience and preparation.

Patience

Experts advise parents to give their child at least a couple days to develop a new routine at their new location. However, there are a small percentage of kids (about 7 percent) who will not adjust and may need intervention from parents and counselors. Bringing an object from home is one recommend step for helping the homesick child.

Preparation

Practicing separation is a valuable way to gauge how your child will deal with being apart. Identify a period of time that you will have no contact with your child – not even a phone call. When that time is over, talk with your child about how it felt to not have access to their parent or family members. Was your child very anxious or did they seem able to adjust to this independence?