I'm the mom of three (13, 10 and 6) and the oldest two started at
summer camps (the sleep over kind) at age 8, going away for 2 weeks.

Only you know your son, but all I can say is my kids did just fine -
in fact, I personally think it was good for the boys (on top of them
having a blast and loving being there, having people to play with and
an endless supply of activities and fun stuff to do).

From this mom's perspective, nothing like being away from home for a
little bit to learn to feel independent (and discover you CAN survive
a few days away from home), look after your own stuff, eat what
everyone else is eating, learn how other people do things (i.e.
different routines, different ways), and generally learn to go with
the flow etc. I think if truth be known, I had more trepidations than
they did, and they were much more responsible and mature than I gave
them credit for (I think I might have been babying them a bit more
than necessary). We're certainly a lot more protective of our kids
than our parents were with us - and sometimes that is not a good thing
for a kid developing a sense of self beyond the family.

If your son is with someone he knows and is friends with, its less
daunting than going to camp with strangers. If you know the family and
trust them, I'd let the kid go for it if he wants to. I'm presuming he
could call home every now and then if he wanted to.

My daughter (6) has been on weekend "Sparks" - sort of junior brownies
- trips for 2 nights away, and she did fine with that too - and she's
chomping at the bit for 2 summers from now when she gets to go to camp
as well.

My vote would be to let the kid go if he wants to go.

Mary G.