Summer camp. It’s where kids go every year to make friends, find their long-lost twin, or even evade a slasher wreaking havoc on the campers and counselors. At least, that’s what pop culture would lead you to believe: For the outsized space they take up in our consciousness, going to camp for the summer isn’t actually all that common.

“It has never been the case that the majority of American children went to summer camps,” says Leslie Paris, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia and author of the book Children’s Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp.

“The first camps were founded by urban middle-class men,” she told Vox. “They were concerned about white boys who they saw as not getting enough outdoor adventure and the kind of manly experiences they would need to be — in the minds of these adults — the nation’s leaders for the next generation. They were worried about the effects of urbanization, and they were nostalgic for an earlier day when more boys had grown up in rural places.”

How did camp begin to be available for more kids? And if so few people actually attend, then why does summer camp have such lasting cultural influence? Those are just a few of the questions we posed to Paris on the latest episode of Explain It to Me, Vox’s weekly call-in podcast. Below is an excerpt of the conversation with Paris, edited for length and clarity.

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