What did you do when teenagers no longer want to camp?

I guess we were lucky. Our kids always enjoyed going and still do as adults with their own children and RV's.

Sell them for medical experiments.

...

If anyone is in the position of having to leave teenagers at home, while they go camping, (or whatever). There is an app called, 'Life360'. It's free. I think it will allow you to track 2 people, after that you have to subscribe. You have to install it on everyone's phone. It basically allows all the users, to track the other phones. You can set it up so it notifies you of user's location.
Ex: Johnny has left home, Johnny has arrived at, (school, work, library, etc.).
It may give some nervous parents some peace of mind, that the kids are safe. Obviously, if there are trust issues-this app wouldn't be as useful, as it can be circumvented.

K Charles wrote:
Go where they want to go and let them bring a friend.

I agree. The "free" teen years go so fast - pretty soon they'll have a job and CAN'T go. But in the meantime, make it fun and they'll come along :-)

We had a similar situation, only it was our weekend trips to the cottage. When they were younger, they brought friends along; and once they had jobs, we HAD to let them stay home alone. There were rules - particularly "no parties" and our neighbors knew when we were gone and kept their eyes open. Our kids were good - we had no problems leaving them alone for a few days.

Sounds like quite a few parents are letting the kids call the shots. that would explain why things are happening the way they are!

Good luck to all you experts that don't have teenagers, yet!
I maintain that kids that age are beginning to mature and are attempting to make their own decisions. Heck, in some cultures, teenagers are old enough to get married! Giving them the old, "My Way or the Highway" is just pushing them to dig in their heels.
Rather than force them into doing something they don't want to, you have to make it fun and interesting for them.
Children should always be a joy, not something that Dad can't wait to get out of the house!

Go Dogs wrote:
I think there is not much worse than dragging a teenager, anywhere that they didn't want to go. Their face buried in their phone or computer, grunts instead of words, not wanting to participate in anything. Makes for a miserable time for everyone. Hopefully, you can make it interesting for them. If you can stomach more kids, taking a friend sounds like a good idea.

That's why ya don't give them phones in the first place, but in the event ya already made that mistake, ya take all the electronic toys and hand them a paper back :p.

Actually, that's our plan is to book nerd our kids young, since both of us are bibliophiles. Shared family computer for the kids with most of the social media sites blocked, limited time for each kid to use (pretty much same as how I grew up), no cellphones, sure as hell no smartphones.

As much time as possible spent enjoying the outdoors, playing in the real world, limited time on the game systems (We are geeks/nerds).

etc... etc....

Anyway, if they still get to that teenage years where they don't wanna, then they'll get sent to spend the time at my mother's who will be happy to put them to work the whole weekend doing jobs around their home :).

Exactly. Make the trip fun for them too and they will almost always want to go! We are headed to Myrtle Beach next year and they are looking forward to that! They were also looking forward to Niagara Falls and Cedar Point this year as were we. All it takes is some thinking during the planning process to make it enjoyable for them too.

We still tent camp (except back east in Ma's Alegro!), the kids are 27, 21, and 14, and while the oldest is too busy with his career, the two girls are still my regular camping buddies, and they bring their own friends along who marvel at my gear and attitude about camping. I let them play THEIR music by plugging their ipods into my 200W amp/stereo and we all have a great time. When the day comes that they no longer wish to camp with me, I'll reminisce with the pictures and videos, and sing along with Neil, happy for those "Days that Used To Be". :)