What Makes a Song a ‘Camp Song’?

Most Aren’t Composed at Camp. Nor Are They About Camp. But They Unite Kids Across North America on Trails, in Mess Halls, and Around Bonfires

At a children’s summer sleepaway camp in upstate New York in the mid-1920s, two young staffers, Artie and Larry, write a song for the annual camp play. It begins:

I love to lie awake in bed

Right after taps I pull the flaps above my head

And watch the stars upon my pillow

Oh, what a light the moonbeams shed.

Some years later, Artie—composer Arthur Schwartz—is writing numbers for a Broadway revue and gets stuck for a melody. He remembers his camp song, ditches the lyrics (written …

How I Learned to Be ‘Good With Kids’

An Editor of a Magazine by and for Children on What Their Work Has Taught Her About Parenting and Life

When I was a child, the border between the natural world and me was so thin it was transparent. I looked into my dog’s eyes and felt that I knew …

When Kids Make Art, a Richer Story of War Emerges

The Stone Soup Refugee Project Helps Young People Move Beyond Empathy

The sea is stormy, please help me!

My wings are small, please help me!

The butterflies are afraid, please help me!

My world is ignored, …

The Cycle of Public Panic Over Childhood That Got Us to QAnon  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Cycle of Public Panic Over Childhood That Got Us to QAnon 

For 150 Years, Americans Have Misplaced Concerns for Their Kids—Helping Conspiracy Theories to Flourish

The story of QAnon’s violent extremism is often told as one of partisan polarization. We tend to focus on the most outlandish parts of the far-right conspiracy theory—which falsely claims …

Give California’s Kids Barstools for Christmas | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Give California’s Kids Barstools for Christmas

It's Clear That the Next Generation Doesn't Matter in a State That Prioritizes Bars and Restaurants Over Schools

Santa, California children need more this Christmas than you can fit in the sleigh. But could you at least give every Californian under the age of 18 their very own …

The Forgotten Children of ISIS Fighters  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Forgotten Children of ISIS Fighters 

Without Country, Citizenship, Protection, or Even Compassion, Thousands Remain in a Precarious Limbo

Accounts of two young girls, both named Amira, have dominated the 2020 news cycle out of Syria.

One girl, a 3-year-old Australian, has been in the Kurdish-run refugee camp al-Hol …