Last summer, a midnight flood struck a girls’ camp in central Texas, and 25 young girls died. The parents of some of the girls are suing the camp, Camp Mystic, accusing the camp directors of gross negligence in ignoring flood warnings and not having a clear evacuation plan.

One of the plaintiffs is Carrie Hanna, mother of Hadley, who was 8 when she died in the flood. A Camp Mystic alumna herself, Carrie Hanna told the Wall Street Journal last week (“Camp Mystic Is Still a Crime Scene,” Wall Street Journal, April 18-19, 2026), “If they had said, ‘We’re so sorry, we messed up’ – if there had been some accountability – we wouldn’t be where we are today. I didn’t want to sue them. This is not how I want to live.”

Ms. Hanna’s comment illustrates the value of an apology. People may withhold an apology for fear that they’ll end up paying dearly, but sometimes the opposite is true: the victim just wants to hear that the offender is willing to take responsibility for the offense, which enables the victim to let go. The victim who doesn’t hear that, feels more justified in suing. Ironically, the camp directors’ attorney may have warned them not to apologize – the very thing that, according to Ms. Hanna, would have prevented the lawsuit.

Of course, the camp directors may not feel any responsibility for what happened, in which case they of course should not say that they do. And victims who think that all they want is an apology may hear it and still end up feeling dissatisfied enough to file a lawsuit. But in some cases an apology can stave off a lawsuit and bring some measure of peace to parties in conflict.