| |
|
Report on The Scoop on Summer Camps
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
|
A total of 469 people--456 girls, 7 boys, and 6 others--shared their thoughts on the wonderful world of summer camps. The majority are 11-14, but plenty of people above or below that range responded as well. A lot of you report being the oldest (194) or youngest (140) in the family, but there are some middle (57) and only (66) children too. While most are of European ancestry, visitors from as far away as the Dominican Republic, South Korea, and Pakistan took part in the survey.
|
| Have you ever been to summer camp before? |
|
|
It looks like more than half of you have enjoyed the splendors of summer camp and go on a fairly regular basis: 58 go multiple times during the summer, 88 go once every summer, 10 go every other summer, 63 go once in a while, 78 have been to camp once, and 166 have never been to camp. Among those who have never been to summer camp, 121 would like to go while 67 just aren't interested.
For those who do go or who would like to go to camp, though, what's the most important reason? 148 said the opportunity to make new friends is the biggest attraction, 76 said it was the chance to learn new things, 64 said it was just a good way of passing time during summer vacation, 60 said they enjoyed it as a way of getting away from home, 38 don't like to go to summer camp, and 67 gave other reasons.
Below are graphs showing the types of camps people have been to and the types of camps they'd like to go to. The types of "Other" camps people wrote in about included Crime Scene Investigation camp, fashion camp, shopping camp, historical camp, and Air Cadet camp. Very interesting stuff!
|
| Which types of summer camps have you been to? |
|
|
| What kind of camp would you most like to go to? |
|
|
When it comes to the big decision of whether to attend sleep-away camp or day camp, 245 would prefer overnight stays while 114 are perfectly happy to just go for the day. 98 others have no particular preference.
For those of you who would prefer sleep-away camp, most (133) chose one week as the ideal length of time. 2 weeks was a pretty close second with 121 votes. 57 people think 3 weeks would be perfect; 49 would be happy with one month; 48 think 1 week is plenty; 16 want to head to camp for 2 months, and 36 want nothing less than the whole summer.
Another big issue is whether you would rather go to a single sex (just girls/just boys) summer camp or a co-ed (girls and boys) summer camp. Only 64 would prefer a single sex environment while a whopping 272 think co-ed is the way to go. I guess there's something about being away from home and under the stars that just says romance to some of you! 121 said it doesn't really matter to them either way.
Here are your answers for the ideal location of the camp
~Wilderness: 135
~By the ocean: 65
~City: 35
~Lake: 97
~College campus: 61
~Museum: 1
~Church/Temple: 3
~Theater: 29
~Beach: 5
~It depends: 2
~Other: 36
|
How well would you agree with the following statement: "I would have more fun going to summer camp than on a family vacation."
~Strongly disagree: 89
~Disagree: 113
~Neutral: 173
~Agree: 45
~Strongly agree: 30
Did you choose to go to summer camp or did your parents make you go?
~I chose to go: 262
~My parents made me go: 32
~I've never been to camp: 153
Would you go to summer camp if you didn't know anyone else there?
~Yes: 171
~Maybe: 211
~No: 66
If you've ever had to leave camp early, what was the reason?
~Homesickness: 44
~Injury: 89
~I got in trouble: 7
~I've never been to camp: 154
~Other reason: 111
|
| At what age do you think it's appropriate to send kids to summer camp for the first time? |
|
|
Being a camp counselor sounds like a fun job, but it involves a lot of responsibility. 193 of you would like to try it, 99 aren't interested, and 157 aren't sure.
When we asked about the traits a camp counselor should have, friendly (420) was the most popular answer. Next came caring (389), good listener (373), creative (335), energetic (327), smiley (331), talkative (219), laid back (213), fearless (182), practical joker (148), athletic (191), teaser (38), and quiet (29). Unsurprisingly, bossy (13) was the least popular answer. 43 people wrote in other responses like fun, kind, and understanding.
|
What do you think the best thing is/would be about summer camp?
~Making new friends: 181
~The activities: 116
~Getting away from home: 51
~The cabins/lodging: 25
~The location: 14
~The camp staff: 9
~The food: 5
~Other: 47
What do you think the worst thing is/would be about summer camp?
~Not knowing anyone: 141
~Having to do activities that you don't want to do: 81
~Being away from home: 63
~Being away from friends: 55
~The food: 34
~The cabins/lodging: 18
~The camp staff: 5
~The location: 5
~Other: 47
|
| Which of the following words would you use to describe a summer camp? |
|
|
count | percent |
describe
|
| snobby |
24 | 1.97 |
| fun |
333 | 27.32 |
| exciting |
280 | 22.97 |
| horrible |
32 | 2.63 |
| memorable |
312 | 25.59 |
| scary |
41 | 3.36 |
| life-changing |
161 | 13.21 |
| lonely |
36 | 2.95 |
|
|
There have been a few television shows about summer camp, but we wanted to know which of the following movies about summer camps you've seen.
~Camp: 44
~The Parent Trap: 384
~Meatballs: 13
~Poison Ivy: 14
~The Babysitters' Club: 149
I guess the winner is obvious, but I'm glad a few of you have seen Poison Ivy, my personal favorite in this group. If you ever happen across it on TV, check it out. It's cheesy fun!
|
If you were to design the perfect summer camp, what would it be like? What would you do during the day? How long would it last? Who could attend? What type of food would be served? Be as specific as possible!
You all have amazing imaginations! I would love to go to any of the ideal camps described in your responses. As a longtime Nancy Drew fan, though, I'd have to say that I'd be particularly excited about going to the camp described in the third paragraph below. We wish we could publish all of your wonderful ideas, but just don't have the space. Please keep sending us your fantastic thoughts, though. We love reading them!
"I would have it be an all girls camp where you stay overnight for a week in a cabin with 3 other girls. You would do arts and crafts, play games, sing songs, have campfires, go horseback riding, and go for hikes. Each cabin group would design their own flag to hang outside their cabin and the girls would become close friends by the end of the week. The showers would be clean and the girls could stay up until 12:00 doing girl stuff like painting nails, talking, playing cards, and doing funny hair styles in their cabins with their friends. The food would be easy stuff like hot dogs, salad, nachos, tacos, and big sandwiches. There wouldn't be any water activities involved so girls with their periods wouldn't feel left out at all. It's basically a camp to meet friends, be yourself, get away from boys for a while, and just enjoy being a girl!!"
"If I were to design a summer camp and could do anything: The age range would be 12-16 and it would be a boy/girl camp and during the day we would go canoeing, play games, do fun exercises, and go swimming. At night we would go camping under the sky, roast marshmallows, and stay up all night every once and a while. The camp would last for about 3 weeks and on weekends the parents would have a chance to come see what their kids were up to. You would be able to choose who you were to bunk with and on nights where we didn't stay up all night, lights out would be at 11:00, but you would be able to stay up as late as you wanted to- but in the dark. The cabins that were suspicious or had a boy and a girl in it would be supervised by adults/supervisors. We would have some arts and crafts, and for the first week or so we would have swimming lessons so that if you didn't know how to swim you wouldn't have to sit out on the swimming activities."
"It would be a Nancy Drew camp for 1 week. We would read Nancy Drew books (only!) and solve little made-up mysteries. Girls only and movies and popcorn every night. And we would have pizza, hamburgers, and lots of cool junk food. We would have fun mystery games and they could call their parents or even leave if they got homesick. It would be cool."
"If I could make my own summer camp I would make one where you could do all kinds of things. Like, if you were artsy, you could do drama, singing or art. If you were athletic, you could do horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, sports, rock climbing, etc. If you were an "inside person", you could watch movies, learn cooking, and other stuff like that. I guess the campers would stay either a time segment of 1-2 weeks, 3-4 weeks or 5-6 weeks. Anybody could attend, but there would be a boys' cabins area and a girls'. The food would be served like a buffet. The campers could get up and choose from a variety of food. The cabins would have a big bathroom with stalls for toilets and showers and a few sinks. They also would have a lot of bunk beds and dressers for storing clothes and other stuff. There should also be a few cork boards so the campers could hang pictures of their friends and family back home. Okay, now that I've typed a lot, I'll spare those who have lives to lead and stop. :)"
"Each person that wanted to go to My Summer Camp would be interviewed first to see what type of personality they had. So I could put them in the group that best suited them. Then I would put them into groups of 10 (5 girls and 5 boys). Then each group would go out with two trained counselors (1 boy and 1 girl) and they would do a random trip picked out of a hat (The White Water Rafting Trip, The Horse Trip, The Mountain Trip ETC) And they would have 31 days to go on their trip and collect certain items (like a big scavenger hunt). Then whichever team got their items in the fastest amount of time would win and the prize would be something...BIG!!! Like a day at the spa or a day at a theme park with no other people there or an all-expense paid trip to...somewhere with their families or a $10 gift certificate to Taco Bell!!! Yeah, that's what I'd do!!!! LOL"
"I'd design a camp for people who loved to write and read. There would be time to read and write, with writing workshops on different styles and genres. People could try new reading material and chat about the kinds of things they like to read. There might be the opportunity to choose a free book or to buy from a big shop. Related things like museum trips and guest speakers could be organized too. It would take place somewhere quiet and conducive, maybe by a pretty lake so that people could swim and play in their spare time, and gain inspiration and peace from it. On the last night, there would be a voluntary poetry and prose reading night, whether sharing favorite pieces or ones written at the camp itself. Food would be simple but delicious, and there would be a tuck shop and treats for hard work or good discussions."
|
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
|
|
