CSI Summer Camps Popular With Teens

Crime scene investigation summer camp is letting students unravel a mystery and piece together their own who-dun-it. Its also giving teens a new appreciation for science and technology. Teenagers in the Florida camp are finding out about things they never learned in school, or even from watching crime shows on television. "Reality and TV are way different. The TV takes five minutes to get DNA back from the lab, but in real life it takes days to weeks," says camper Kayla Barker. This is crime scene investigation camp, or CSI for short. Students are learning about all sorts of things, from blood typing and finger-printing, to hair samples and bones. JSO Detective Karen Smith works on crime scenes for a living, and loves teaching others about her job. "I love showing children, even adults, what our jobs are all about. The CSI trend is really hot right now, and debunking some of those rumors from television is what I really love to do," Smith says. Many of the teens in the CSI summer camp are hoping to work in this field some day. Its nice to get a feel for real-life CSI. "Im really interested in forensic sciences, and i think its what I want to do when I grow up, so I thought this would be a neat experience to see what it would really be like," says camper Kristen Zur. Its not like TV, but the kids at the camp think its even better.