# Are there any political youth camps in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049 "2020-10-27T18:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/1 "2020-10-27T18:41:52Z")
After reading the post on re-education camps, it reminded me of the horrible massacre in Norway at the Workers Youth League summer camp. While a terrible event, I couldn’t stop thinking how creepy the idea of a youth camp for political indoctrination was. Are these relegated to Europe or are there any here in the America? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/2 "2020-10-27T19:37:39Z")
There are plenty, though how many depends on how you define ‘political’. Teen Age Republicans hosts summer camps. I don’t see a similar one for the Democrats, but that’s largely because google tends to turn up ‘democracy’ hits: > **[Teen Age Republicans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Age_Republicans)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > National Teen Age Republicans (TARs) is the youth wing of the United States Republican Party. > TARs have a presence in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, with membership in the tens of thousands. TARs are one of the three official youth wings of the Republican National Committee, along with Young Republican National Federation and College Republicans. > The oldest recorded TAR group was formed in 1960 in South Dakota. Obviously a politcal party camp is political. Then there are camps that claim to be historical, but… ‘Confederate Camps’: > **[What It's Like To Spend A Week At Confederate Summer Camp](https://www.vocativ.com/usa/race/what-its-like-to-spend-a-week-at-confederate-summer-camp/index.html)** > > The Sam Davis Youth Camp is billed as a camp to learn about Southern history. But the lawyer who runs it has had affiliations with hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan. There are camps for minorities too, and their existence often counts as political: > **[Brave Trails — 10 Best Summer Camps for LGBTQ Youth](https://www.bravetrails.org/10-best-summer-camps-for-lgbtq-youth/)** > > Meet the 10 best summer camps for LGBTQ youth! Looking for a summer camp for your LGBTQ kid? Look no further. > **[Summer Camps for BIPOC Children Are Diversifying the Outdoor Experience](https://matadornetwork.com/read/summer-camps-bipoc-children/)** > > The first step in a lifetime outside. That was just with quick googling. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/3 "2020-10-27T19:55:25Z")
Thanks for the response. Not sure any of these are of the magnitude of Norway’s or others in Europe. Call me crazy but I kind of like the idea of my kids making their own decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/4 "2020-10-27T20:18:32Z")
What about 20,000 American kids aligned to the American Legion? > **[Boys/Girls State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys/Girls_State)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics. The programs are sponsored by the American Legion (AL) and the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) respectively. Boys and girls are usually nominated by their high school during their junior year. Boys and Girls State programs both be... I’m am curious why you’d think the Norwegian version would prevent your kids from thinking for themselves though. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/5 "2020-10-27T20:52:21Z")
Boys/Girls State is just a huge civic lesson. To my knowledge left or right indoctrination is not involved. It’s hard to find anything about the youth camp that doesn’t involve the massacre. Reminds me of the Hitler Youth or the Komsomol. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/6 "2020-10-27T21:07:46Z")
Nothing I’ve read in the US media about the Oslo shooting suggested that the youth camp in Norway was for “political indoctrination” but that the kids who were there were politically active and there of their own free choice. Have you heard anything different? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/7 "2020-10-27T22:05:43Z")
> [@thdudescar](#): > > It’s hard to find anything about the youth camp that doesn’t involve the massacre. Reminds me of the Hitler Youth or the Komsomol. Ok what’s your proof of that? ---
**Author:** ![Galgrip8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Galgrip8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galgrip8r)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/8 "2020-10-28T01:16:26Z")
The camp in question is the annual summer camp of the youth organization of the Norwegian Labour Party. All Norwegian political parties (of which 9 are qurrently represented in the parliament) have their respective youth organizations, from left to right. Perhaps it is more common for Norwegian/European youth to be politically active? I don’t know. Either way I can’t see how you make that out to be a bad thing, and a symptom of kids not thinking for themselves. The kids are their by their own decision, and extremely rarely as a result of pressure or expectation from parents, friends or society. I can’t think of anyone I’ve ever known who’s been pressured by anyone to join a political youth organization (although I’m sure pressure does exist, to a very small degree compared to just hanging out with your democrat/republican family at the house all day). The youth parties have their own leaders, causes, and economy, independently of their associated political parties. Before every parliament election, high schools around the country will organize school debates where ALL parties are present, and later hold “mock” elections for the students. The purpose of this is to educate the students on what voting and democracy means, and have reflect on the decisions they will be making when voting in real life. The comparison to Hitlerjugend is ridiculous. From your second sentence in the OP, it almost seems like you think politically active youth was the creepy part about what happened that day. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/9 "2020-10-28T01:50:49Z")
The John Birch Society used to host summer camps. How voluntarily the kids attended is probably debatable. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/10 "2020-10-28T02:06:17Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I don’t see a similar one for the Democrats It’s called [Young Democrats of America](https://yda.org/history) (“Young Democrats”), for people under 36. The Republican party has two youth wings, [Young Republicans](https://www.yrnf.com/about) for registered Republicans aged 18 to 40 and Teen Age Republicans for high school kids. The United States doesn’t have any youth wings affiliated with the International Union of Socialist Youth (which Norway’s Workers Youth League is a part of). But Canada’s Young New Democrats, for example, is an IUSY organization. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/11 "2020-10-28T06:00:07Z")
Is the OP assuming these are the kind of summer camps that parents choose to send younger children to? AFAIK that’s a predominantly US phenomenon. The Norwegian example was for [older teenagers and young adults](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14276074), who were, as noted above, already active in the party’s youth organisation. In the UK, the parties have had their troubles with the youth organizations tending towards their own (usually more radical) views than obediently being indoctrinated by the leadership (occasionally disbanding them). But there have also been other motivations: in the 50s the Young Conservatives were sometimes called “the biggest marriage bureau in the country”. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/12 "2020-10-28T13:11:39Z")
Thanks to all for their responses. I learned quite a bit on this. Seems like the USA is kind of alone when it comes to political youth summer camps. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/13 "2020-10-28T14:04:54Z")
> [@thdudescar](#): > > Boys/Girls State is just a huge civic lesson. To my knowledge left or right indoctrination is not involved. Reading the [history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys/Girls_State#History) on Boys State/Girls State in Wikipedia, they were founded in opposition to political indoctrination camps for young people that existed in the 1930s. So Boys State/Girls State may be the best answer (along with, perhaps, Model UN?). ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/14 "2020-10-28T16:51:52Z")
I’m sorry, I don’t understand. “they were founded in opposition to political indoctrination camps for young people that existed in the 1930s.” How is that political indoctrination? My mother, best friend, and others I’ve known have gone to Girls/Boys State and all say it isn’t any fun. A lot of work and sleep deprivation. Looks good when applying for college. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/15 "2020-10-28T17:26:27Z")
There are of course religious Youth camps, very common, Bible camp. How much of that would be considered “political” is a matter of opinion. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/16 "2020-10-28T18:43:30Z")
Agreed ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/17 "2020-10-28T18:50:07Z")
> [@thdudescar](#): > > I’m sorry, I don’t understand. “they were founded in opposition to political indoctrination camps for young people that existed in the 1930s.” How is that political indoctrination? My mother, best friend, and others I’ve known have gone to Girls/Boys State and all say it isn’t any fun. A lot of work and sleep deprivation. Looks good when applying for college. It seems about as much about political indoctrination as the Workers’ Youth League is in Norway. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/18 "2020-10-28T19:11:54Z")
Thanks. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/19 "2020-10-28T22:31:00Z")
If you mean that the USA is unusual in not having political youth summer camps, I’m not sure that’s been established in this thread. I am not aware of any political youth summer camps in Ireland, for example, and it seems they do exist in the USA (a previous poster stated that Teen Age Republicans hosts summer camps). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049/20 "2020-10-28T22:53:10Z")
Ever seen the doco “Jesus Camp”? That one was. > **[Jesus Camp (2006) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Jesus Camp: Directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady. With Lou Engle, Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard, Mike Papantonio. A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham. I used to live in the same region as one of the kids, and I’m pretty sure they went to the same church as a man I worked with while I was there. I didn’t see the movie until a few years later. And IIRC there are some updates floating around online about the kids, and especially the camp director, and I’m pretty sure the kid(s) who attended that church were the same one(s) whose parents divorced shortly after filming - even before the movie was released - because their dad came out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-political-youth-camps-in-the-usa/924049.md?page=2)