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This summer, millions of families across the U.S. are sending their kids off to sleepaway camp, an American tradition that for more than a century has meant making friends, learning outdoor skills and giving kids independence. But after more than two dozen people - including many young children - died in floodwaters at Camp Mystic on the Fourth of July in Texas, parents' typical concerns - like, will my camper have fun - have, for many, turned into, will my camper be safe? NPR's Amy Held reports.
AMY HELD, BYLINE: Not long after the Texas tragedy, Anna Kent of West Virginia saw her own daughter off for a week away at camp in Virginia.
ANNA KENT: Honestly, out of this whole thing, that's the hardest, is watching her get on the bus, watching the bus pull away and knowing that whatever she's going to experience, I'm not going to have any control over the situation.
HELD: As a child, Anna Kent attended sleep away camp near Camp Mystic in Hunt, Kerr County, Texas, which saw the most devastating effects of the flooding.
KENT: So it was a - sort of a double whammy.
HELD: Her 13-year-old Lizzie, a third-generation Girl Scout, goes to Girl Scout camp each summer. Mother and daughter share a love of their camp experiences.
KENT: And that battles with my fear as a parent of sending my child off where I don't have any way to contact her. I don't know what's going on. And then to have a tragedy happen on top of it, it can be very scary.
HELD: Now after the disaster at Camp Mystic, sleepaway camps across the U.S. have been seeking to reassure parents who often also send their kids away in nature near rivers, lakes and forests.
HENRY DEHART: Many camps across the country are proactively doing outreach to their parents.
HELD: Henry DeHart is interim president and CEO of the American Camp Association. He says if parents are not being reassured, they should ask camps about their safety measures, especially around natural disasters specific to their area.
DEHART: A lot of camps are saying, OK, based on what we're learning and what we're hearing, are there any tweaks that we would make to our emergency plans?
HELD: Randy Odom, who runs Kids Across America, a Christian overnight camp in Golden, Missouri, says he's been hearing from parents, some worried about flooding. He's reassured them they are above the nearby lakes floodplain, and he has refined the camp's emergency protocols.
RANDY ODOM: We made sure that all of our emergency personnel - they have a walkie-talkie system that is one of the best so that we're not dependent on cellphone or electricity to communicate.
HELD: Kids are generally not allowed to bring their cellphones to camp. Not being able to communicate with their children can make it hard on parents, but unplugging in nature is a big part of the camp experience.
ODOM: Campers often come from environments where they've never left the city. They've never seen a lake. So here, they get to see the beautiful sunrises and starlit nights, and they get to just be out in nature that they never would before. And I think it helps them slow down.
HELD: Those benefits, DeHart says, are borne out by research.
DEHART: Independence, social skills, grit, willingness to try new things, problem-solving, sense of belonging.
HELD: All aspects Anna Kent considered for her daughter.
KENT: The reality is that she's most likely to have a wonderful time, or, you know, even if she doesn't have a wonderful time, she'll still get valuable lessons. But I have to let her live her life.
HELD: Despite her fears, Kent says it was important to let her daughter go.
Amy Held, NPR News.
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