The Benefits of a Coed Summer Camp, Explained

There are many things that take place at summer camp that do not happen as easily at home. Your child never goes on a screen. They make their bed every day. They spend more time outdoors and in nature, doing adventurous things. They also become more confident and aware of others’ needs beyond their own.

Part of this growth comes from being away from home. But it also stems from the fact that the social environment at Camp Walt Whitman is filled with boys and girls, just like the real world.

We appreciate and understand the many benefits of single-sex summer camps, and we’ve also seen first-hand the advantages that the coed experience offers our campers. Here are some of the positive aspects of a coed summer camp:

1. By Going to a Co-Ed Camp, You Learn How to Operate in the Real, Coed World

Boys and girls are part of each other’s experience every day at Camp Walt Whitman, not just a mystery group who shows up at camp a few times each summer for socials. This constant interaction means that campers learn to relate to each other not as members of the opposite gender, but as humans.

2. You Double the Potential Number of People You Can Be Friends with at a Coed Camp

Our campers often talk about how easy it for them to make friends with both boys and girls out of camp and how comfortable they are with each other. We’re providing a gender-blind environment for friendships at camp, and later in life.

3. The Programming at Coed Camps Is Often More Diverse Than at Single-Gender Camps

Our arts and ceramics classes are part of the boys’ schedule and they are welcome to participate in our gymnastics and dance programs as electives. Likewise, girls have the opportunity to enjoy “traditional” boys activities like woodworking and flag football. Not all single-sex camps can offer the same breadth of programming.

4. Kids Learn to Be the Best Version of Themselves and Be Comfortable with Themselves No Matter Who Is Around

For our campers, there is no sense of “I feel great about myself at camp, but back in the real world, with boys or girls around, I’m much more reserved.” Your camper can practice being their best self at camp in exactly the same way that they can at home.

5. Coed Camps Are Great for Families with Both a Son and Daughter

It’s far easier to introduce a younger sibling to the coed camp their big brother or sister goes to, and it also means fewer headaches for you to attend one visiting day instead of two.