Video: Missouri S&T Explosives Camp 2007

LIKE hundreds of thousands of American teenagers, Jennifer Babb went to summer camp last year. She learnt all about how to prime dynamite, stood close enough to a controlled explosion to feel its percussive blast and finally blew up a frozen chicken.

Forget about swimming and barbecues: American children’s summer camps are increasingly turning to adult pursuits to entice a new generation of tech-savvy teenagers.

In place of traditional summer fare such as canoeing and volley-ball, the camps are offering ever more sophisticated pursuits, from computer programming courses to espionage - otherwise known as “spy camp”.

At the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST), a summer course in handling explosives has proved so popular that the 2008 sessions sold out months ago. “A bunch of my friends were really jealous when they found out I was going to explosives camp,” said Babb.

Sceptics might think this the ideal training ground for a budding terrorist, but the organisers emphasise that the $500 (£250) week-long course is limited to teenagers who express an interest in studying engineering.

“You will have a behind-the-scenes look at how explosives are used in industry and entertainment,” says the MST brochure. “But the number one thing you will do at the explosives summer camp is have fun!”

The university’s engineers use frozen chickens to demonstrate the dangers of mishandling explosives. According to Dr Paul Worsey, the British-born MST professor who runs the programme, the skin and bone structure of a chicken is similar to the composition of the human hand.

For students who prefer more cerebral pursuits, the neuro-science camp run by Northwestern College in Iowa offers a different kind of treat. “Campers participate in electrophysiology and neuropharmacology experiments,” promises the camp prospectus. “They dissect a sheep brain [and] use computer simulation to dissect a human brain.”

At spy camp on the shores of Lake Como, Pennsylvania, budding James Bonds are instructed in martial arts, code-breaking, surveillance techniques and undercover manoeuvres.

It is all a far cry from the halcyon days when the children of America’s well-to-do would quietly while away their summers in the woods.

Now those woods are likely to be filled with dynamite blasts and trainee spies. “Boy it’s cool,” said Babb.

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