‘Kid rotting’: why parents are letting their children go wild this summer

Forget the organised fun that comes with a high price tag and the threat of debt. US parents are turning their backs on summer camps and activities, in favour of much freer, easier school holidays

Name: Summer kid rotting.

Age: The name is new, but long school summer holidays started spreading in the 1840s, thanks to the US educational reformer Horace Mann.

Appearance: Laidback and a little messy.

What’s this Kid Rot then? Does Kid Rock have a brother? No, it’s a 2025 way of describing “letting your kids do nothing in the summer holidays”, also known as a “wild summer”. American parents are fighting back against (or giving up on) expensive, overscheduled summers of camps and activities for their offspring. “What if, some are daring to wonder, my kid does nothing?” the New York Times reported.