Sleep away camp mom anxiety

amother

Wheat ↓

Fri, Jul 29 2022, 7:32 pm

Wow you guys. When I was a kid in camp in the days before mobile phones, you wrote your parents postcards, or you didn't. The office had a phone and if there was a death in the family or maybe the birth of a sibling your parents could have you called to the office phone so they could give you the news. That's IT. No calling home because you feel homesick, forgot to pack your blankie, or want Mommy to send you brownies.
Guess what, snowflakes-- we and our parents survived this disconnection and we all went on to live normal, happy, productive lives. You and your DC will survive two days of not being joined at the hip.

amother

↑ Wheat

Fri, Jul 29 2022, 7:40 pm

amother [ Teal ] wrote:

Just stick a basic phone on a wall and allow campers to access it for 50 cents a call. Why is it okay to cut off communication?

Ever heard of snail mail? First of all, pay phones, if they aren't already extinct, are on the brink. I can't remember the last time I saw a payphone. It costs the host money to maintain a payphone, and many places that used to have them got rid of them because nobody was using them and it was costing them money to maintain it. It also costs money to have the phone installed, if in fact pay phones are even made any longer, which I doubt very much. So no, you can't just " stick a couple of basic phones on the wall." Secondly, where are your children in sleepaway camp that a phone call will cost $0.50? If you're using a payphone you call regular long distance and that costs $$$$.

Believe it or not, children can survive without speaking to their parents for more than a couple of days.

amother

Springgreen

Fri, Jul 29 2022, 7:41 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

The anxiety (in the parents!) since covid has been through the roof. Parents absolutely feel entitled to reach their kids easily and frequently even when they send to camps well known for their “no calling home” policy. I don’t know the connection between being in contact with your child and covid but the anxiety about it has definitely exploded since covid.

(Full disclosure, I work at a camp-that allows calling-and most head staff find the calling to be tremendously disruptive to the program and not productive for the campers, indeed sometimes downright detrimental but feel we don’t have a chance but to allow it, which we do despite feeling that it is often NOT in the campers best interest.)

amother

↑ OP

Sat, Jul 30 2022, 11:00 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

Good for you!!
It's not normal for a mother not to talk to her child for so long. Just because that's the way you grew up, doesn't mean it's normal.

↑ seeker

Sat, Jul 30 2022, 11:29 pm

I dunno, I consider myself pretty old and I'm pretty sure there was a phone in camp. You had limited time available that you could use it, and there was a line, and you generally didn't bother, but it existed.

I think now people are more attuned to personal safety. I don't necessarily want my kid calling home from camp but I absolutely want her to know that she COULD. For better or worse we are no longer naive enough to believe that everyone is always fine and that we can trust the grownups to take care of everything. I'd like to hope that if something disturbing came up then she could talk to her counselor and if needed escalate to the camp mother or nurse and get the support she needs, but the bottom line is she has one mother in this world and since the technology exists I want her to be able to reach me if she feels she must.

amother

↑ Teal ↓

Sat, Jul 30 2022, 11:51 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

Alrighty ......
Quality post right here.
I always find that calling others "snowflakes" is an effective way to make your point.

amother

↑ Teal ↓

Sat, Jul 30 2022, 11:52 pm

amother [ Wheat ] wrote:

Honestly, this topic shouldn't be getting you so worked up. Calm down. It's not that big of a deal if people feel differently than you do about their children having phone access.

LOL.

amother

↑ Daylily

Sat, Jul 30 2022, 11:56 pm

amother [ Teal ] wrote:

Honestly, this topic shouldn't be getting you so worked up. Calm down. It's not that big of a deal if people feel differently than you do about their children having phone access.

LOL.

If it’s not that big of a deal why are you attacking everyone who disagrees with you? I think you need to calm down.