Comments on: Can No-Tech Summer Camps Revive Letter Writing?

By: Too much Tech? | The American Freedom Network

Too much Tech? | The American Freedom Network — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:25:22 +0000

[...] interesting article explores our youth’s addiction to their gadgets. How they make decisions based on access to their toys and associated data. This was [...]

By: Cris Higginbotham

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:11:15 +0000

Our camp, “Camp Friendship” has always been a no tech summer camp but that doesn’t stop parents from sending 2 cell phones much like Jenn said. It’s amazing how quickly most campers get over it while parents are still calling every day to make sure everything is fine. We have been using the Bunk1 services to help our parents stay connected with their campers. So far it seems to be helping but it does bring up other issues.

While parents do seem to appreciate the no tech at camp idea they just want to stay informed and snail mail just doesn’t provide that instant gratification.

We do encourage letter writing for out parents and campers

By: jenn selke - the camp director

jenn selke - the camp director — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:37:13 +0000

What a great topic for a discussion! I ran a session on this topic for some American Camp Association camp conferences this spring. Kids seem to do better with out technology than the staff. Developmentally, for the most part campers are very much about the relationships they are building at that moment, figuring out who they are, having fun, etc. As they move into late teenage years they are developing deeper connections – that is when the technology separation is more challenging.

Parents are a whole other animal. They have so much more to worry about than parents of previous generations. They need the support to not pass on their anxiety or fear to their children. Kids still take their cues from their parents. When the parent is still nervous about sending their child to camp, it tells the camper that the parent is not confident the child can make it away from home. Those are the parents that send 2 phones, the one that gets confiscated and the one the camper uses to call home.

Some camps are quite lucky because they do not have cell service – makes it easier to regulate.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:22:34 +0000

Hi Anastasia, Thought you might like to know that Latinitas offers multimedia and technology camps where we place equal emphasis on the importance of knowing good old fashion writing skills as well as cutting edge technology. http://www.LatinitasMagazine.org

By: Amy Strecker

Amy Strecker — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:37:40 +0000

I LOVE summer camp too! My life-long camp still remains no-tech for campers, and I think it’s a great thing. In our end of the week reflections campers regularly comment on how nice it was to have a chance to “get away,” “think things through,” and gain perspective. One of my favorite things about camp was the opportunity to interact with an entirely different set of people and find fresh ideas and opinions. I think it would be harder for campers to fully engage themselves in these new interactions if they’re communicating with peers from home via phone or laptop every few minutes.