Helping Homesick Campers

NEW YORK, July 17, 2006

(CBS) Summer is in full swing, which means that a lot of children are at camp.

And, there's a good chance many of them, especially those attending a sleepaway camp, may become homesick.

University of California psychologist Chris Thurber studied homesickness in 329 boys between the ages of 8 and 16 at a sleepaway camp and found a whopping 83 percent reported homesickness on at least one day of camp, according to the American Camp Association.

Thurber says most cases of homesickness can be abated simply by the child getting involved in camp life or talking to a friend or staff member. Based on his research and 20 years as a camp consultant, Thurber says about one-in-14 campers has a truly distressing case of homesickness. Even rarer, about one-in-100, are cases in which the camper's homesickness is so severe he or she returns home early, Thurber adds.

On The Early Show Monday, clinical psychologist Robin Goodman offers advice on dealing with homesick campers:

1) STAY CALM: Do NOT jump in the car and pick up your child right away.

2) INVESTIGATE: If you get that "I hate camp" letter or phone call, ask your child questions to figure out what's going on. You may find out it's not that bad; maybe he just had a bad day, or maybe he's exaggerating. Or, perhaps there's a larger problem.

There are Web sites, such as Bunk1.com, that post pictures of campers for their parents to view. See how your child looks in those pictures, if possible: Is she smiling, or does she look miserable? Also, get information about the camp's policy on homesick campers.

3) Once you've investigated, and found out your child IS indeed homesick, you should COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY: This starts with being aware of how much you are communicating with your child. Don't overdo it. Watch what you're communicating to your child, either in writing or over the phone. For instance, don't talk about how much fun you're having at home, or how much you miss him. You should also communicate with camp personnel. They have experience in dealing with homesick campers, and should know how to handle the situation.

4) Finally, it's important to SUPPORT YOUR CHILD: Some good ways to do this are to encourage her to get involved in different activities, and normalize their feelings. Let them know it's OK to miss you. However, be careful not to make your child feel guilty.

Goodman adds, if you do all this, and let some time go by, perhaps a week or so, and your child is still not happy, or showing signs of real distress, he may be suffering from a severe case of homesickness, or there may be a larger problem contributing to it, such as problems with fellow campers. In that case, you may want to bring your child home. But, make sure you're careful about how you do it: don't punish your child.

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