Sex abuse, drownings, boat accidents and even mass shootings: The dire dangers parents should be aware of before shipping kids off to summer camps

By SUSAN GREENE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 21:11, 6 June 2026 | Updated: 21:11, 6 June 2026 Summer camps have always had their ghost stories – hair-raising tales they share around campfires each season to frighten campers just enough to keep them from wandering off into the woods. Now, a recent spate of tragedies suggest the dangers of camp may actually be more real rather than just made up. The deaths of 27 campers and counselors at Texas’s Camp Mystic last year, as well as the countless reports of boat accidents and sexual abuse horrors have officials sounding the alarm just as summer programs prepare to reopen for the season.  Other dire external threats, like mass shootings, are also now a major concern.  ‘It feels almost inevitable that we’ll have an active shooter at camp someplace at some point,’ Henry DeHart, chief executive officer of the American Camp Association, told the Daily Mail.  ‘In a way, it’s surprising it hasn’t already happened.’  Many Jewish camps – and, to a lesser degree, those catering to Muslim and LGBTQ kids – are taking increasing safety measures this summer in response to a rise in hate crimes. ‘They’re concerned about active-shooter situations even more than the rest of the industry,’ DeHart said. The deaths of 27 campers and counselors at Texas’s Camp Mystic last year has officials sounding the alarm just as summer programs prepare to reopen for the season. A law enforcement officer is pictured praying with one of the grieving families after the deadly floods  Among those killed were: Renee Smajstrla, Janie Hunt, Sarah Marsh,Lila Bonner and Eloise Peck. Middle: Hadley Hanna, Anne Margaret Bellows, Wynne Naylor, Mary Kathryn Jacobe, Lainey Landry. Bottom: Mary Stevens, Linnie McCown, Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, Blair and Brooke Harber The threat only adds to the growing list of risks families have to consider before sending their kids off into the wilderness.  More than 26 million youngsters will head to an estimated 20,000 camps – including day camps, sleepover camps and wilderness programs – across the US in the coming weeks.  Just 56 percent of those programs fall under any kind of state or local regulations, most of which experts say are barely enforced, if at all. And only 12 percent of camps across the country are accredited by the American Camp Association, a nonprofit that hinges membership on 50 mandatory standards, including having emergency preparedness plans and doing criminal background checks on counselors. The group also requires more than 200 standards around potentially dangerous activities such as swimming, archery and firearms, horseback riding and boating.  In a span of a few weeks last summer, 11-year-old Florida girl Cate Viteri nearly had to have her leg amputated after a counselor ran her over with a motorboat while she was taking part in Coconut Grove Sailing Club’s summer program, and three campers at the nearby Miami Yacht Club’s summer camp died after their boat was hit by a construction barge.  Neither program was ACA accredited. Camp Mystic, a 100-year-old girls camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, also wasn’t accredited when it became the site of the deadliest summer camp disaster in US history when it was inundated by flood waters last July.  Camp Mystic, a 100-year-old girls camp on the banks of Texas's Guadalupe River, wasn’t accredited by the nonprofit American Camp Association when it became the site of the deadliest summer camp disaster in US history Search and rescue team members trawl debris near Camp Mystic last July after it was inundated with flood waters Twenty-five campers and three staffers died after surging water swept through portions of the camp as the girls were sleeping.  In the wake of the catastrophe, the camp was hit with a flurry of lawsuits from grieving families. The camp has denied liability saying the flood was an unforeseeable natural disaster. A special investigator for the Texas Legislature also later found, in part, that Mystic’s teenage counselors had little or no emergency training and that they told campers to remain in their cabins during the flood instead of evacuating. The Dallas-based father of one of Mystic’s young victims, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if he could do just one thing differently in his entire life, 'I’d have questioned whether Mystic had the people and policies sufficiently in place to keep her alive.’  ‘I failed her,’ he added about his only daughter.   ‘I’d like to tell people what I wish someone told us – that just because a camp has been around forever, just because it’s respected by people you consider respectable families doesn’t mean it’s going to keep your kid safe.’  The Camp Mystic catastrophe prompted a flood of reforms that have now put Texas on par with New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan and California – the states that regulate summer camps most tightly.  Laws in those states make best-practice safety standards legally enforceable rather than just voluntary.  An 11-year-old Florida girl nearly had to have her leg amputated after a counselor ran her over with a motorboat while she was taking part in Coconut Grove Sailing Club’s summer program last year Cate Viteri's parents filed a lawsuit against the Miami summer sailing camp after their daughter's leg was mutilated by a boat propeller Meanwhile, a Daily Mail analysis of camp regulations nationally showed many states still have lax oversight, or no camp licensing requirements at all –  including Georgia, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Indiana and Florida.  ‘People assume camps are heavily regulated and that, because they’re working with youth, there’s a lot of oversight around them. But the truth is it’s usually much less than you’d think,’ DeHart, of the ACA, said.  ‘That puts the onus on families to do their due diligence before trusting camps to protect their kids.’   Such research can be challenging, given that many states stay mum about problems with camps. Law enforcers and regulators in Iowa, for example, have refused to say what exactly prompted their raid of the Shekinah Glory Camp near Columbus Junction in June last year. Authorities took 88 children into protective custody before returning them to their parents or guardians. The state of Missouri, meanwhile, has drawn scrutiny for its handling of rampant sex abuse at a string of Kanakuk Kamps locations. The Christian camp, which welcomes about 20,000 children from across the world each summer, has been plagued by sex abuse allegations dating back to 1958.   One Kanakuk camp director, Pete Newman, is currently serving life in prison for molesting more than 50 kids.  The state of Missouri has drawn scrutiny for its handling of rampant sex abuse at a string of Kanakuk Kamps locations.  The Christian camp, which welcomes about 20,000 children from across the world each summer, has been plagued by sex abuse allegations dating back to 1958 Kanakuk camp director, Pete Newman, is currently serving life in prison for molesting more than 50 kids Logan Yandell was a pre-teen when he says he was molested at Kanakuk. Now grown, he said ‘No responsible parent should send their child to a place where other children are known to have suffered'  ‘No responsible parent should send their child to a place where other children are known to have suffered,' said Logan Yandell, who was sexually abused at the camp when he was between 9 and 12 years old.  Camp safety watchdogs have urged parents to research lawsuits against specific camps and read guides on program safety before enrolling their kids for the summer.  They recommend choosing camps with clearly defined emergency plans, evacuation routes and shelters and that spend at least a week training staff on abuse prevention and emergency response protocols before campers even arrive.  Experts also recommend choosing a camp with at least one staff member for every five campers ages 5 to 6; for every six campers ages 7 to 8; for every eight campers ages 9 to 14; and for every ten campers in their older teens.  Rahel Bayar, a consultant for summer camps around the country and a former sex crimes and child abuse prosecutor, encouraged parents to ask camp directors 'loads of questions' before enrolling their children.  ‘Times have changed to the point where any good camp should expect that kind of scrutiny,’ she said.  Bayar noted, too, that it would be a 'big red flag' if any camp official answered defensively. ‘You are gonna be your child’s best advocate when it comes to a camp’s safety. If you don’t do your own due diligence, that’s on you,’ warned Doug Forbes, whose 6-year-old daughter Roxy drowned in 2019 at a California day camp that was operating without a license.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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