16 h. ago At American summer camps, kids get a glimpse of their future. That’s what made the horror in Texas so crushing | Emma Brockes

As news of the floods began to break, for so many parents the scene at Camp Mystic was intimately imaginableAmong the many dreams that the US offers its citizens, there’s this: that the American child, around the age of eight, will go to sleep-away camp a few hours from home and begin one of the key formative experiences of their life. They will return every summer. They will learn independence. They will form bonds with people who will one day godparent their children. As an adult, a friend of mine – no kidding – returned to the hallowed ground in Pennsylvania where her summer camp once stood, bought a piece of land and built a house there. Whenever we visited, she’d point out the ruins of the old dining hall down by the lake and get a haunted look on her face.I mention this because, among the many devastated reactions to the flash floods in Texas last week, there is one that is particular, and particularly acute, to millions of Americans: a gut-level blow of unfathomable loss stri...

Events

16 h. ago At US summer camps, kids get a glimpse of their future. That’s what made the horror in Texas so visceral | Emma Brockes

Camps are a rite of passage for American parents and children. That’s why the tragedy at Camp Mystic was intimately imaginableAmong the many dreams that the US offers its citizens, there’s this: that the American child, around the age of eight, will go to sleep-away camp a few hours from home and begin one of the key formative experiences of their life. They will return every summer. They will learn independence. They will form bonds with people who will one day godparent their children. As an adult, a friend of mine – no kidding – returned to the hallowed ground in Pennsylvania where her summer camp once stood, bought a piece of land and built a house there. Whenever we visited, she’d point out the ruins of the old dining hall down by the lake and get a haunted look on her face.I mention this because, among the many devastated reactions to the flash floods in Texas last week, there is one that is particular, and particularly acute, to millions of Americans: a gut-level blow of unfa...

Events

5 d. ago Texas floods LIVE: Summer camp horror with 20 kids feared dead after lodge swept away

Multiple fatalities were reported in the wake of the deluge, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook the children's summer camp

Events

5 d. ago Texas floods LIVE: Summer camp horror with 23 kids feared dead after lodge swept away

Multiple fatalities were reported in the wake of the deluge, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook the children's summer camp

Events

1 week ago Scotland Set to Make a Splash This Summer with Wild Shore’s Action

From wakeboarding and open water swimming to kids' adventure camps, the 2025 summer schedule brings the energy Wild Shore is known for!

Politics

2 w. ago Summer camps and workshops for kids in Rutherglen at Number 18 Venue

There is something to spark every imagination and interest.

Economics

4 w. ago ‘Kid rotting’: why parents are letting their children go wild this summer

Forget the organised fun that comes with a high price tag and the threat of debt. US parents are turning their backs on summer camps and activities, in favour of much freer, easier school holidaysName: Summer kid rotting.Age: The name is new, but long school summer holidays started spreading in the 1840s, thanks to the US educational reformer Horace Mann. Continue reading...

Society