Summer Camp the New Old Neighborhood
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It’s all about kids today
I remember when Pam Schott would tell young me, “BE HOME WHEN THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON!”
And after that Dr. Schott (never John) would whistle for us. A poor man’s Capt Von Trapp from The Sound of Music.
Remember when that was the whole safety plan?
No Stanley water bottles strategically placed around the neighborhood. No calendar-driven supervision schedule. No real organization.
Just you, your friends, and whatever craziness you could cook up before those street lights flickered on.
Maybe you were building sketchy bike ramps out of plywood and cinder blocks. Or exploring that “definitely-maybe-kinda haunted” abandoned house at the end of the street.
Or playing marathon games of street hockey where the only rule was a Wayne’s World-inspired “CAR!” meaning pause and “GAME ON!” meant, well, game on!
Where Did All The Kids Go?
Look outside your (literal or figurative) window right now. Quiet, isn’t it?
Those same streets where we used to have epic games of manhunt? Empty.
That perfect hill for sledding? Silent.
The front yards where impromptu wiffle ball games would break out? Now they’re just… yards.
Meanwhile, our kids are shuttled off to practice and lessons, scrolling Snapchat, or in the basement mastering Fortnite strategies. And look, for real, no shade to scheduled activities, social media, or video games. I’m here for all of those as well.
And there’s plenty of space for them in kids’ lives right now.
But something’s missing. That glorious freedom of just… playing. Making stuff up. Getting into (and maybe out of) trouble.
Camp: The New Old Neighborhood
Credit my friend Jolly Corley from Camp Robindel for Girls with this term because she’s exactly right.
Summer camp is quite literally the last place where kids get to experience that kind of freedom. Except with camp, there’s one significant difference which levels up the old neighborhood vibe. It comes with built-in cool older siblings in the form of counselors.
Think about The Sandlot for a second. Remember how magical it felt watching that flick? Kids figuring stuff out on their own, having adventures, occasionally losing a baseball signed by Babe Ruth to a giant dog named Hercules…
Camp is that. But better. Because when things start going sideways, there’s an 18+-year-old nearby who knows:
How to handle the actual emergency (if there is one)
How to turn the minor crisis into a learning moment
When to step in and when to let kids figure it out themselves
Safety With a Side of Skinned Knees
“But wait,” I hear some parents say, “isn’t unstructured play dangerous?”
Well, yeah. That’s kind of the point.
In my interview with Seth Godin, he summed it up perfectly, highlighting that “Apparent risk” is different than “Actual risk.”
Life is dangerous. Growing up is dangerous. Learning to navigate that danger - with support - is exactly what kids need.
At camp, your kid might:
Feel homesick
Make a new friend
Lose a friend for a sec
Make up with that friend
Fall off the bottom cabin bunk
Miss the rock wall on their first try
Get tagged out at Capture the Flag
Learn that they’re braver than they thought
And they’ll do it all with a counselor nearby who remembers exactly what it felt like to be that kid because it wasn’t that long ago.
Why This Matters Now
The future feels scary. The present feels scary, too.
Parents are looking at their kids’ childhood and wondering if they’ll ever have the experiences we did - those moments of pure, unstructured freedom that shaped us.
They will. Just not in the old neighborhood.
They’ll have them at camp, where they can:
Build fairy houses in the woods (with someone who knows which plants are poison ivy)
Start a band with their bunkmates (with a counselor who can actually tune the guitar)
Learn to make friendship bracelets (from someone who remembers learning last summer)
Figure out who they are, away from their parents, but not alone
Because that’s the magic of camp. It’s not about recreating the past exactly as it was.
It’s about taking what made those neighborhood adventures so special - the freedom, the creativity, the skinned knees and belly laughs - and making them possible again.
In a world where parents (understandably) don’t feel comfortable saying, “Be home when the street lights come on,” camp is the answer we’ve been looking for.
It’s our job to be sure this comes through with our messaging. With our conversations. With our writing. With our brochures. We can use real nostalgia. Not just your-camp-nostalgia.
Camp is the new old neighborhood. And the lights are always on.
You got this,
Jack
Get my newsletter every week.
It’s all about kids today
Jack Schott
Summer Camp Evangelist