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Is your summer camp safe?
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Is your camp safe? Camp directors, owners, and boards know exactly what I’m talking about here. Of course, I’m not asking expressly. This is probably one of the number one questions parents are asking when considering a camp. And they are right to ask. Surveying and talking to families, safety concerns were the #1 factor in choosing overnight camps. #2 for day camps right after location. Safety outpaces activities, program quality, reputation, and affordability. This was staggering. But there’s one layer deeper here. Parents distinguish safety from health and medical. When they ask, “Is your camp safe?” they’re asking about something different than what most camps answer. What Parents Actually MeanWhen families ask about safety, most camp folk respond with nursing staff credentials, allergy protocols, medical systems, and closed campus policies. But uh-oh, that’s not what parents are really asking about. Parents are silently asking:
They’re not thinking about the camp nurse. They’re worried about everything else. Most won’t say it directly and might even feel a bit uncomfortable saying the specifics out loud. But they are absolutely deciding based on them. How to Communicate Safety DifferentlySafety is the first conversion hurdle. No amount of program excellence matters until safety is totally covered. Parents won’t listen to activity descriptions, evaluate curriculum, or compare costs until they trust the supervision. Camps that communicate safety well end up filling faster. Camps that default to medical talk miss the point entirely. Safety messaging needs to answer three questions parents are actually asking. Who is with my child? This means talking about staff screening, background checks, ratios, and training depth. How are staff trained? Supervision expectations, conflict management, emergency preparedness. What about the environment? Weather protocols, transition supervision between activities, check-in, and check-out systems. Medical care matters too. But it’s only one small part of a parent’s mental model. Safety can’t be a separate paragraph on the website or a single slide at parent orientation. It needs to be woven into every conversation about program quality. “We have a high-quality program that’s safe.” “Our counselors are screened and trained in active supervision.” “Ratios are designed for oversight, not just headcounts.” When safety is integrated into the sentence without overtly screaming “WE ARE SAFE!!!!”, parents hear it. When it’s just answering with, “Here’s what our health center looks like,” they don’t. The Bottom LineParents aren’t asking about your awesome nurse when they ask “Is camp safe?” They’re asking about everything that keeps their child whole. Supervision, screening, training, environment, and accountability. The camps that understand this distinction and communicate it clearly earn trust faster. Trust is what fills enrollment. Sincerely, Senior Consultant at Immersive1st Learn more about Immersive1st's Approach |
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Camps are competing with a $40 billion industry. Not other camps. Not enrichment programs. Not Disney World. Youth travel and competitive sports. This number keeps growing. The infrastructure keeps expanding. And parents keep choosing sports over summer camp, often spending three to five times as much. The irony? Parents are choosing sports for exactly the things camps do better. What Parents Say They Want We survey families year in and year out about what they look for in their kids’...
Sounds obvious, right? I shouldn’t even have to say this. But so many camps struggle to answer this clearly. They know what activities they offer. They know their schedule. They can tell parents about facilities and staff ratios. Ask them “Who are you? What makes you different?” and the answer gets fuzzy. Clear identity means campers want to come back summer after summer. The Retention Paradox A summer camp approached us with a puzzle. Program quality was extraordinary. Survey results showed...
“I never got any feedback.” When listening to or surveying camp staff after a summer, this is the phrase that comes up over and over. When asked what was missing from their experience, what I most commonly hear is… Not, “The pay was too low.” Not, “The hours were brutal.” Not, “The kids were tough.” Nope. No much of that. It is this: “I never got any feedback.” The numbers back up this sentiment. 80% of employees who quit a gig cite their direct supervisor as the reason. Meanwhile, that...