Summer Camp USA

John Murphy introduces an extended essay by Laura Trevelyan, on the roots, the ethos and the effects of America's culture of summer camps for children.

Today, we're joining ten million American children - and millions of others around the world - who're spending time at summer camp.

All sorts of countries have their own version of this innocent idyll. Some claim the idea originated in the Swiss Alps in the 19th Century, when a churchman set up holiday camps for children to build tree houses, make kites, to perform and sing songs. But it's probably fair to say that it's in the United States that summer camps, where children can spend six weeks away from home, have become an integral part of the culture.

According to the American Camp Association there are 12,000 of them across the country - ranging from the outward-bound, singing around the campfire type, to those specialising in the performing arts, mathematics or magic. Some focus on weight loss, or cultural heritage, or athletic prowess. For most, though, it's getting close to nature that's the important thing.

Laura Trevelyan, based in New York, has just packed her son off to summer camp and already, it seems, she's noticed some changes in him - most of them very much for the better.