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The following key messages are designed
to help assist you in developing press materials,
including press releases. They can also
be used as your key messages during media
interviews.
Accreditation:
- The American Camp Association
is the advocate for the accredited-camp
experience.
- ACA accreditation assures parents that the camp has had a regular, independent
safety audit that goes beyond regulations
in most states.
- ACA accreditation means that your child’s camp cares enough to undergo
a thorough (over 300 health and safety standards) review of its operation — from
staff qualifications and training to
emergency management.
- Accreditation is voluntary, and ACA accreditation assures families that
camps have made the commitment to a safe,
nurturing environment for their children.
- No accreditation process, no licensing program, no set of regulations
or laws can guarantee safety. However,
accreditation is the best evidence for
parents that a camp is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment
for their children.
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Adult Camps:
- Adult camps are a growing segment
of the camp community. Like their counterparts
in youth camps, adult specialty camps
can also focus on team-building exercises
and self-esteem issues.
- Adult camps offer an oasis of
wholesome fun in a hectic and stressful
world.
- Many camps provide physical challenges
and thrilling adventures for the young
at heart.
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American Camp Association:
- The mission of the American
Camp Association is enriching the lives
of children, youth, and adults through
the camp experience.
- ACA's over 7,000 members encompass
all segments of the camp profession,
including agencies serving youths and
adults, independent camps, religious
and fraternal organizations, and public/municipal
agencies.
- ACA is the largest association
serving the organized camp industry.
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Benefits of Camp:
- An independent research firm,
Philliber Research Associates, conducted
the largest study of camper outcomes
in the United States.
- The research found that 96 percent
of children said that camp helped them
make new friends and 92 percent of children
found that the people at camp helped
them feel good about themselves.
- Camp provides children with the opportunity
to connect with nature, to participate
in human- powered activities, and to
benefit from personal and primary relationships.
- Many young people who attend
camp experience an increase in their
self-esteem and are able to establish
a true sense of independence apart from
their families.
- Camp is an element in a child’s
total development, and it complements
the academic skills that are learned
in school with experientially-based life
skills.
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Camp Costs and the Economy:
- Camp Costs: While fees to attend camp
vary, the average weekly
fee for resident camps ranges from $325 to $780 per week, and the
average day camp fee is $100 to $275 per
week, and can be as low as $75 per week.
- Seventy-five percent of ACA-Accredited® camps
offer some level of financial assistance
to over one million children who are
from underserved or lower-income families,
have special medical needs, or special
situations that might preclude them from
attending camp.
- Each year, the ACA community mobilizes
over $39 million annually in camp scholarships.
- Camps are doing everything to assure
that every child can attend camp regardless
of economic status.
- Across the country, ACA is working
with local partners to provide more camp
experiences.
- There is a camp for every budget.
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Community:
- Camp is one of the few institutions
where young people can experience and
satisfy their need for physical activity,
creative expression, and true participation
in a community environment.
- Noted experts in child development
have expressed their thoughts on summer
camp as a valuable resource for giving
children the value of belonging to a
community of their own.
- Camp connects children to authentic
relationships that afford friendships,
understanding, and appreciation for one
another and the global community.
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Corporate Camps:
- Social and business networks
are critical in the 21st century.
- Camps working with the corporate
world give adults the opportunity to
develop/practice critical competencies
such as trust building, communication,
and critical thinking to achieve collective
success and teamwork.
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Family Camps:
- In 2008, 42 percent of camps
offered family programs. That number
is up from 2003, when 36 percent of camps
offered family programming.
- Family camps allow families to unplug
from cell phones, television, and iPods® and
plug into each other.
- Family camps help parents who
are looking for a healthy, positive experience
to have with their children, allowing
them to bond, grow closer, and build
relationships as a family.
- Family camps offer cross-generational
activities that produce positive outcomes
that continue after the camp experience.
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Grief Camps:
- As always, camp directors are
responding to the needs of their campers
in an ever-changing society.
- For generations the camp community
has nurtured the souls of children, youth,
and families.
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Health and Wellness:
- The American Camp Association
is a leader in health and safety standards
for camps.
- The daily activities that make summer camps so memorable offer an added
benefit to youth: healthful exercise.
- A summer experience at camp is the perfect prescription for keeping
children active and healthy.
- A camp wellness program’s main
goal is to improve health habits of campers
with activities tailored to the age and
developmental levels of the children.
- Childhood obesity is a national epidemic.
Research has found that children gain
more weight over the summer months than
during the school year. A child’s
summer camp experience can provide the
physical outlets needed to keep kids
healthy year-round.
- According to research conducted by
ACA, 63 percent of children who learn
new activities at camp continue engaging
in these activities after they return
home developing healthy habits that last
a lifetime.
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Homesickness:
- Homesickness is, above all,
a normal feeling. It is the natural result
of separating from home and loved ones.
- Opportunities for children to
experience healthy, successful separation,
help children discover who they are and
to recognize their strengths.
- In a recent study, nearly 96 percent
of all boys and girls who were spending
two weeks or more at overnight camp reported
some homesickness on at least one day.
- One way to minimize homesickness
is to involve the child in the process
of choosing a camp. The more that the
child owns the decision, the more comfortable
the child will feel being at camp.
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How to Choose:
- Camp is a great place for children
to unlock their potential and discover
the world. This special environment helps
young people develop positive self-esteem
and enhance their social skills while
having fun!
- ACA offers resources to help families
find the right camp for every child.
Visit our family-dedicated Web site —www.CampParents.org— which
not only helps parents search for the
right camp through our extensive database,
but also offers information on a variety
of child and youth development issues.
- ACA offers Camp
e-News — an e-newsletter
designed to serve as a resource for families
by answering questions and offering expert
advice. The newsletter can be found at www.CampParents.org/newsletter.
Parents can sign up to receive the newsletter
via e-mail.
- ACA has 24 local
offices around the
country that provide help to parents
as they search for camps in that particular
region. Parents can find the office in the region they are interested in by
visiting www.CampParents.org.
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Nature:
- According to a 2005 study conducted
by the Kaiser Family Foundation, American
children spend on average 5½ hours a day plugged into some
kind of electronic medium (TV, video games, computers, etc.). Most
of that time is spent alone.
- Camp allows children to unplug from
technology, and plug into the world around
them —making authentic human
connections, interacting with nature,
and developing healthy behaviors.
- A recent study at the University of Essex in England concluded that
evidence suggests that nature can help
us recover from pre-existing stresses
or problems, has an immunizing effect that can protect us from future stresses,
and helps us to concentrate and think more clearly.
- Parents can view articles, online resources,
and going green family fun ideas on ACA’s
parent Web site at www.CampParents.org/nature/.
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Specialty Camps:
- The industry has been very responsive
to the needs and interests of our ever-changing
population — young
and adult campers.
- At a specialized camp, campers can find their niche, learn, and feel
good about themselves.
- The diversity of camps today reflects
the diversity of America — there
is a camp for every interest — from
a soccer camp to weight loss camp.
- ACA values diversity and inclusion — a
community of camp professionals dedicated
to enriching lives through the camp experience.
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Special Needs:
- Camp allows special needs children
to be children first.
- The camp community recognizes that
the camp experience should be accessible
to all children. A physical, medical,
or mental disability is not a roadblock
for a camp experience.
- Each year more than a million
special needs children benefit from summer
camp. Some camps specialize in serving
certain groups while other camps integrate
special-needs campers into the total
camp population.
- A camp’s terrain or activity-level
may make it difficult to accommodate
children with special needs. Parents
should work with the camp to determine
safety and medical accommodations, mainstreamed
programming, and appropriate facilities.
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Statistics:
- More than 12,000 day and resident
camps exist in the United States; approximately
7,000 are resident camps, and 5,000 are
day camps.
- Each year, more than 11 million
children and adults attend camp.
- Nonprofit groups including youth
agencies and religious organizations
operate approximately 8,000 camps, and
4,000 are privately owned independent
for-profit operators.
- Camps employ more than 1,200,000
adults to work as counselors, program/activity
leaders, unit and program directors/supervisors,
and in support services roles such as
maintenance, administration, food service,
and health care.
- The number of day camps in the
U.S. has grown by nearly 90 percent in
the past twenty years.
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Technology:
- Technology at camp does not
need to infringe upon the beauty of camp
independence, but it can give the parent
a means to feel connected.
- Technology at camp can enhance all the positive aspects of the camp
environment.
- According to a 2005 study conducted
by the Kaiser Family Foundation, American
children spend on average 5½ hours a day plugged into some
kind of electronic medium (TV, video games, computers, etc.). Most
of that time is spent alone.
- Camp allows children to unplug from
technology, and plug into the world around
them — making authentic
human connections, interacting with nature,
and developing healthy behaviors.
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Trends:
- Camps continuously discover
new and vital ways to promote learning
through partnerships with parents and
children; with home and camp, and with
school and camp.
- In an ACA survey, 75 percent of
camp directors reported adding new activities
and programs over the last few years.
The newest program additions in recent
years are challenging and adventurous
activities, including high and low ropes
courses, climbing walls, zip lines, backpacking,
mountain biking, and cave exploring.
- In an ACA survey, over half of
the camps reported having community service
or good deed programs incorporated into
their programs. The top projects conducted
at camps were community clean-ups, food
drives, recycling programs, and volunteering
with senior citizens and hospital patients.
- Nearly 4 percent of all students
attend school year-round. Camps are extending
the season and diversifying their services.
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Weight loss:
- Child obesity affects one in
five children in the United States.
- Each summer, the more than 5,000 overnight
camps and more than 7,000 day camps provide
leadership and promote healthy, active
living—at
least while children are at camp.
- In the camp community, children and
youth participate in healthy activities
that contribute to the growth of healthy
habits
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