Cozy Campfires. Capture the Flag. Coronavirus Tests?

Privés de colonies de vacances ?

Marshmallows rôtis au coin du feu, cabanes en rondins et premières amours, les camps de vacances américains sont connus dans le monde entier. Après la pandémie, la place qu'ils occupent dans la société est plus que jamais essentielle. Job d’été pour certains, rite initiatique pour d'autres, les « summer camps » pourront-ils cette année ouvrir leurs portes ?

American children slog through the adult-imposed rules, hypocrisies and indignities foisted on them during the 10 months each year when they’re home with parents and in school with teachers in order to

reap the sweet reward: two independent, friendship-filled, technology-free, teenagersupervised, not completely hygienic, wholesome-ish months spent at camp. But at a time when many parents would already be preparing to sew name tags into shorts and order new flip-flops for growing feet, the coronavirus pandemic has so far left the fate of the summer camp season of 2020 as murky as the waters of an algae-filled lake.

2. After long weeks of families being locked down at home and with most normal educational, athletic and social activities for children

replaced by their zoning out in front of screens for hours, the release provided by camp seems more urgent than ever. “We are praying for two things right now,” said Marnie Prisand, an actress and mother in Los Angeles whose two daughters, ages 16 and 12, have enthusiastically attended Canyon Creek Summer Camp in Lake Hughes, California, for several summers. “We are praying for health and we are praying for camp.”

A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE 3. Max Lasky, 18, is a high school senior who is missing out on graduation and all the rites associated with leaving one chapter of life behind. He’s hoping — really, really hoping — that he won’t have to give up on his summer plans too. He is supposed to go to Iroquois Springs camp, in Rock Hill, New York, where he’s been hired to work as a counselor after having spent seven summers as a camper. “For me, camp has always been a safe haven to be who you want to be and put all worries aside,” Lasky said. “With everything that is going on in the world, camp would be a really nice break.”

4. Camp serves many purposes. It’s child care for parents. It’s relied-on seasonal employment for educators and young adults. It’s an annual economic boost for many rural and mountain communities. There are thousands of camps in the United States, many of them familyowned and operated, that derive nearly their entire annual revenue from the fleeting weeks of hot days and campfire nights. 5. “Camp is one of the few places in life where a young person can have a human-centered experience,” said Tom Rosenberg, president and chief executive of the American Camp Association, which was founded in 1910 and counts more than 2,500 camps as accredited members. “As parents, we hold our kids back because we Bubble Wrap them. At camp, we encourage them to try new things, to really try hard at new things and to learn how to make mistakes. Where do we teach kids to fail forward? That’s camp.”

6. “We have growing concerns about the ongoing mental health issues, that are increasing steadily, affecting young people today,” said Paul McEntire, chief operating officer of YMCA of the USA, which includes 325 independent camps. “We’re big believers that being outside always matters. But given quarantine, getting kids outdoors is hypercritical this summer.”

KEEPING CAMPERS SAFE 7. Jay Jacobs owns three sleepaway camps in New York and Pennsylvania and he is confident. In an email to parents he sent this week, Jacobs wrote, “Camp will be opening on time this summer.”. In an interview, Jacobs conceded there are some hurdles still to overcome. “We have to make sure camp will be safe for our campers and our staff, which I believe I will be able to do.”

8. This year, camp directors are suggesting that they would create a physical safe zone: where

campers remain on the grounds of camp all summer (likely meaning no off-site day or overnight trips) and counselors potentially would spend days off on the camp’s site as well. Jacobs said he plans to buy the equipment necessary to rapidly process coronavirus tests. “That’s just the cost of doing business and running a safe camp,” he said.

9. “One thing we know is that this is a disease that is overwhelmingly affecting adults and is largely sparing children,” he said, “though we must balance this with the understanding that children may serve as vectors, placing adult family members and the broader community at risk when campers return home.”

10. One thing he is not worried about is whether he will be able to find counselors to work. Most summers, he hires a staff of about 50 people, with 20 of them coming from Asia and Europe, which he knows this year will be impossible. But he is hearing from former campers and former counselors who no longer have full time jobs or whose plans for the summer have fallen through because of the virus. He said: “They’re calling me and saying, ‘Can I come back to camp?’”

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