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Got tween-agers? Keep them busy

Too old for child care and too young to work, children 11 to 14 need activities to keep them occupied during the long, hot summer.

With the end of the school year just around the corner, emotions run the spectrum in most families from gleeful anticipation to weary dread.

Kids can't wait to break free from the confines of the classroom, while their parents grow increasingly apprehensive about what lies ahead.

Nowhere is the schism more pronounced than in those tricky "tween" years, children ages 11 to 14 who feel they've outgrown traditional kiddie camps but are still too young to land a job or navigate the summer months on their own.

And for parents looking for summer activities for their tweens, there aren't a lot of viable options.

"Traditionally, child care is for kids up to age 12," said Laurie Bettinghaus, senior manager at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County. "Once you get into those tween years, where the parents might still think they need to be supervised, it really is difficult."

Granted, some programs exist, such as the school district's middle school summer camps and some limited programs offered at YMCAs. But getting tween-age kids to go is another matter.

"At that age, developmentally, they are really engaged with each other," Bettinghaus said. "There are peer pressure issues. The kids are much more difficult to engage. They're much more saturated with media messages."

Given their choice, most younger teens would be more than content to spend the summer sleeping late, watching MTV, trading instant messages all day on the computer and talking on the phone for hours at a time.

And that's what many of them do when parents run short of creative alternatives.

"I would not leave my child at home alone, although some parents have to by default," said Bettinghaus, who is facing that dilemma this summer with her own 11-year-old daughter.

"We were talking about that this morning on the way to the office," she said. "What kinds of creative opportunities can I help provide for her?"

Staying home alone can work for some middle school students but not all, said Hiram Perkins, a guidance counselor at Stewart Middle Magnet school.

"It depends on the maturity level," he said. "We have some kids that are 13 that are real responsible, and the parents will leave them at home with set parameters."

Summer camps for middle school students focus on everything from sports and music to academics.

Those with computer access, even from a library, can take arts, math, science and FCAT prep classes through the Florida Virtual School. Registrations are accepted online at www.flvs.net throughout the summer and require permission from a parent and school guidance counselor.

Karen Hough, eighth-grade guidance counselor at Ben Hill Middle School in Carrollwood, said it's important for tween kids to have something, anything really, to keep them busy in the summer.

"I'm a strong proponent that kids need to be out there playing and having fun and letting their minds grow rather than being shut down," Hough said.

"When kids shut down for the summer, it takes them twice as long for their brains to get back in gear when they come back to school. Kids are like sponges, and if you let the water dry up, they're not as absorbent as they should be."

Parents and their tween kids used to have more alternatives when the school district offered universal summer school. But school officials ended the program in 2001 for lack of funding.

In the absence of summer school, here are some other ideas for tween parents.

- Check out summer camp programs at area middle schools.

- Get the kids involved in summer sports camps.

- Find a place for them to volunteer to start logging community service hours required for Bright Futures scholarships.

- Look into programs at the YMCA especially geared for teens.

- And if they do stay home, set up a loose network with other parents to monitor the children throughout the summer.

If you can convince them to go, the school district offers middle school-based summer camps at 14 area middle schools, including Coleman, Roland Park, Stewart and Orange Grove in the South Tampa area. The camps run through June (with a few extending into July) and cost between $50 and $75 a week, depending on enrollment.

Aimed at children ages 9 to 15, activities include recreation, computers, games, daily exercise, skating, arts and crafts, cookouts, gardening and educational themes. The sites are staffed with certified teachers.

Of course, some families already have built-in mechanisms for dealing with the summer dilemma. Children of divorce often spend much of their summertime staying with the parent they don't normally live with.

"That's the advantage of separation and divorce," said the Bettinghaus of the Children's Board. "You have the alternative of sending your child to the other spouse."

- Times staff writer Elisabeth Dyer contributed to this report. Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 813 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com