Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
A Summer Without School or Camp

With the current economy, parents are finding they can’t pay for summer camp this year, just as school districts are finding they can’t pay for summer school.

This might be bad news for some parents, but it is definitely good news for free range kids everywhere.

While I had to laugh at how the New York Times tried to make summer school into a fun and nostalgia-inducing thing for kids – I tend to think most kids instead regard it as hell – they make a fair point in saying that a lack of summer school options tends to have a disproportionately worse effect on lower-income families. Many of these families perhaps live in less play-friendly or safe neighborhoods, in addition to having fewer resources and finances to spend on “constructive” outlets for the summer hours – and without summer school, these kids might just otherwise end up at home in front of the TV.

Still, not having summer school around – regardless of how important you portray its benefits – doesn’t necessarily have to mean kids’ summers are devoid of substance, no matter the kids’ socio-economic status.

As Parent Dish points out – in considering summer without another hallmark pastime, that of summer camp – there’s plenty of pluses to not doing anything:

Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, psychiatrist and author of “The Overscheduled Child,” tells Newsweek. “Boredom is not necessarily our children’s enemy. It can stimulate [children] to think, create, and hear the soft murmurings of their inner voice, the one that makes them write this unusual story, draw that unique picture, or invent some new game.”

It really is all a matter of perspective. We don’t have to have our schools and camps direct every moment of summer for our kids “so they won’t get bored” – and we don’t even have to worry about making those three months out of school “productive.”

If we just turn off the TV, give kids a library card and a couple of bucks, and send ‘em off on their own with full permission to roam the neighborhood, good things are bound happen.

Jul 08, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , , :: #