PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNAPOLIS AREA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Campers at Annapolis Area Christian School don't have giant sharks watching them in the water, but they do have lifeguards and camp counselors nearby serving as extra sets of eyes.
Avoiding camp calamities Questions to ask to make sure your kids have a safe summer B Y D AV I D GREISMAN
T
eresa Favero’s 7-year-old son left camp last summer with an adult who didn’t have permission to take him. Fortunately, the adult was someone the family knew. But
the possible nightmare scenario led them to think more about where their kids would spend their summers.
“You’re leaving your kids with people you’ve never met before, and
hoping and praying that they come back to you safe and sound at the end of the day,” says Favero, of Columbia. Finding the right camp for your children involves much more than learning what they’ll be doing and where. There are other questions that should be asked—questions that will let you know how prepared camps are to keep worst-case scenarios from happening, and how ready they are to respond just in case they do. Here are four of the most important questions to ask before choosing a camp for your child this summer.
1. Is your camp certified? In Maryland, a camp certified by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene meets the minimum standards for hiring camp staff, keeping kids safe, and handling injuries and other serious situations. “They’re very thorough,” says Michael Strawbridge, co-owner of Bayside Summer Camp in Annapolis, of the DHMH certification guidelines. Many camp directors, however, say they seek to go above and beyond the state minimums to keep campers as safe as possible. Some even strive for more stringent accreditation by the American
16 • BIG BOOK FOR FAMILIES 2019 • ChesapeakeFamily.com
Camp Association.
