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The what and the why of camp releases.

Article Excerpt
While camps are certainly accountable to the families of their campers, they deal most fundamentally with children, minors, in delivering the traditional camp experience. Camps understand that they have responsibilities to minor campers, and try--through compliance with ACA standards, careful hiring and training of staff, maintenance of equipment and facilities, and in many other ways--to fulfill their responsibilities and to run a quality program. As a result, the notion of collecting a "release" of liability from campers or their parents, up front, can be difficult for camps and families to understand or accept. We will be addressing these important and difficult issues at the upcoming 2007 ACA National Conference to be held in Austin, Texas. We hope you will join us there and provide your thoughts as we discuss these issues and provide a perspective on pertinent legal trends and decisions across the country.

Duty of Care

The duty of a camp to a minor child is generally one of "reasonable care." Articulations of this duty vary, including the often misunderstood doctrine of "in loco parentis"--in the place of the parent. Thankfully, even the courts, which have declared this duty to be "the highest duty" (that is, one that exceeds reasonable care), acknowledge that parents, camps, or other organizations supervising children are not required to insure a child's safety or completely eliminate the risks of physical or emotional injury. Courts understand that appropriate supervision includes exposing the child to adventure and risks that enhance the emotional and physical development of the child. As a result, the duty is to reasonably manage the activities and risks of the camp experience. Personal growth, including skill development, would not be possible without these risks, which are inherent in the camp experience. We examined these issues in detail in our Fall 2005 The Campline article: "Reasonable Supervision and the 'Safe' Environment--What Are the Issues?"

The characterization of the duty and its limits varies somewhat, depending, of course, on the laws of the specific jurisdiction, and factors such as the custody and control aspects of the relationship, the risks to be encountered, and the age of the child. A camp acts through...

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