Body Safety Blog

I’ll be honest—I was that parent many years ago.

The one smiling at drop-off but gripping the steering wheel afterward, stomach in knots. Hoping my child would have a great time... but terrified about what I couldn’t see.

Because here’s the thing: summer camp isn’t just arts and crafts and popsicles. It’s a place where you’re trusting strangers, often very young ones, with your child. And that trust doesn’t come easy.

Especially when you know what I know.

There’s been a rise in youth perpetrators. Many camps are staffed with teen and college-aged counselors who may not have the maturity, training, or supervision to truly protect kids. And too often, camps either don’t have solid child abuse prevention protocols, or they have them on paper, but don’t actually enforce them.

It made me feel like the “paranoid” mom. But I’ve learned to lean into that instinct. Because the truth is, I don’t trust camps by default. 

Not even day camps. 

Not until I’ve met the staff, reviewed the pol...