ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – With summer camp signups filling up fast, parents may find a big difference in child safety, depending on where they go.
“You’re not providing a 100% wonderful experience if you can’t promise the safety of your children,” Crestwood recreation specialist Tracey Whitaker said.
Whittaker said summer camps must do better.
“Even if it’s not required,” she said. “…For my own peace of mind, for the parent’s peace of mind, having that training for the staff on safety, water safety, children’s safety. We train all of staff on mandatory, they all have to become certified on mandatory reporting.”
Missouri requires nothing when it comes to your child’s safety at summer camp and mothers like Kris Johnson say they’ve seen the consequences at other programs.
“Previous camps, she was just thrown into the pool and, ok, you know, hope you swim,” she said.
Johnson said her own 8-year-old once pointed out a concern.
“She specifically said at previous camps, ‘I did not feel I was being watched,’ and that the other camps, the other counselors were more concerned with socializing with each other.”
In July 2022, 6-year-old TJ Mister drowned at a St. Louis County run summer camp at the Kennedy Rec Center, which was short-staffed and missing lifesaving equipment. TJ’s parents, Olga and Travone, have since persistently pushed for stronger safety requirements, both locally and statewide.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page ordered safety changes at all four county rec centers, including CPR training and background checks. Then the St. Louis County Council passed an ordinance requiring the improvements, but only affecting county run centers.
“Two to four camps! What about the rest of the children?” Olga Mister said at a December meeting.
That’s why parents must look out for their own families, to see how they’re protected.
“The state standard for adult-to-child ratio for schools, childcare, camp, is about 1-to-16. I personally operate my camps on a 1-to-10 basis,” she said. “We’ve got woods, we’ve got a trail, very easy access to just slip away; so that ratio is very important, and I feel camps should have that smaller ratio because it is easier for kids to slip away being outside.”
Johnson said she appreciates the extra safety requirement for swimming she noticed in Crestwood.
“They did safety testing with the children. They put them in three different categories where if you couldn’t swim the best, you were placed in the more smaller children’s area.”
Johnson said that her daughter, “…feels very safe here and I think that’s the most important thing to any parent. You need to have that kind of conversation with them.”
Whitaker says she also added a sign in/sign out procedure when she came aboard in Crestwood. There are many safety issues to remember, but sometimes it’s what’s important for your specific family needs. You should ask your camp for answers about things that impact your child. If you don’t get an answer, move on.
