No Phone? No Problem!
"Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty. Ready or not, here I come!"
A child runs down the hallway and into the lounge area. He is looking for his friends, who are all hiding behind various objects, some nestled in crevices meant for shoes and books.
After searching for a minute, which felt like a year, he finally spots his friend behind a stuffed moose.
"Awe Man!",
The failed escapee exclaims. He regains composure as the successful hideaways peer out from their hiding places, for they know what is to follow.
"Three! Two! One! Go!"
Both ashamed and proud, the formerly hiding boy puts on a slight grin across his face and proclaims with his loudest voice:
"I'm a little teapot, short and stout!"
He takes a heavy breath. What follows is the proceeding lyrics to the first verse of the commonly known children's song. His cabin mates join in on the second line and they come in arm in arm.
Welcome to Summer Camp. A place where boys suddenly stop trying to grow up quickly. Where girls enjoy acting their age and where college students act as both mature adults and fun-loving youth, at the same time. At summer camp, losing can be fun. It can result in song and at camp, winning and losing is always a team effort. At camp, songs are the universal language, cabins are divided only by the war paint on your body, and phones are strictly prohibited.
Yes, you read that right. At camp, both campers and summer staff do not have daily access to a cell phone or even a computer. People rely on the company of one another to make it through the week. At home, they have learned to cope with problems such as anxiety, stress, or insecurity by indulging in social media. While social media doesn't solve many of these issues, it provides them with a way to distract rather than going to the root of the problems, leading to a lack of social development.
Children need a way out of these addictive patterns of social media and cell phone usage. Camp songs and teamwork are not instantaneous solutions to the problem of screen addiction and indulgence. But a fast can help. Many feel they are unable to remove themselves, even temporarily, from their cell phones. This is a dangerous reality that children do not see the harmful effects of, but adults should. There is a solution and a tech-free environment can help a child find their way out of cell phone addiction. The removal of technology from a week of camp will help youth grow in their social skills and overall development.
"I feel I have the protection of my cellphone if I don't want to participate."
Nicole Alvarez is a teen who was forced to go to overnight summer camp by her mother. She was excited to go to camp until she discovered that cell phones were not allowed. "I am a shy person" she said. "Even today, I feel I have the protection of my cellphone if I don't want to participate." Teens today use cell phones as a coping mechanism to deal with awkward and silent moments. They believe cell phones are an essential element in relationships and rely heavily on them. Many professionals argue cell phones can harm the simplicities of life and can fog up both the mind and bravery of youth.
Even in tech-central Silicon Valley, parents are heavily limiting and even banning certain electronic devices and their services offered. Many parents who work for corporations like Apple, Alphabet (Google and YouTube), and Facebook don't allow their children on social media and limit time on devices. Nellie Bowles, journalist for New York Times, writes: “Technologists know how phones really work, and many have decided they don’t want their own children anywhere near them.” They know the addictions cell phone and tablet devices can cause and do not want their children to fall into unhealthy patterns.
“We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” - Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
Even Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, was hesitant on letting his children use the iPad, when it was first released. When Jobs was asked what his children thought of the new iPad, he replied: “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”
While the creators of new technology are abstaining from their children's exposure to electronic devices at a young age, most American households are embracing these "advancements" with open arms, not acknowledging the dangers they may hold.
Dangers of Too Much Screen Time
Children can get into a lot more trouble with internet access than they can without it. Don't get me wrong, problems like sexual addiction and bullying can easily happen without the internet as a contributing factor. But the internet certainly doesn't help these problems fade away. In an iSafe survey, over half of the teenage respondents have experienced cyberbullying on the internet from both sides of the coin, acting as both the bully and victim at some point in their life. Behind the screen, it is extremely easy for children (and adults) to be whoever they choose to be.
The internet has such a large range of sexually inappropriate content that is accessible to users of every age. The average age of exposure to pornography from the internet is 11 years old. Cell phones are not just a toy but rather a telescope into various galaxies with often little parental supervision. The porn industry is so large online that magazines once known for thriving off of the "nudie" industry have become quickly irrelevant. Popular magazine Playboy announced in 2016 that it would no longer publish the nude and semi-nude photos that made it a best-selling magazine. The online porn industry is largely to credit and blame for this change in the industry. Playboy CEO Scott Flanders explains to the New York Times: “[on the internet] you’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.” Children have access to whatever they want (or don't want) on the internet.
With these amounts of time spent on electronic devices, children will become nearly inseparable from screens. It has become like a drug. Children are addicted and cannot be removed from devices without force. Taking a break from the bondage of technology can provide a child with the opportunity to breath and discover new passions and skills. This is where tech-free environments come into play.
Tech-Free Environments: A Healthy Alternative
"A 2014 study by child development expert Yalda T. Uhls of Common Sense Media revealed bone-chilling data about technology usage statistics for adolescents. Kids 8 and younger use electronic devices for two hours a day, those 9-12 consume six hours, and nine hours for teens."
These children are missing out on the social benefits of the world beyond the screen. Communication through a screen looks vastly different than face-to-face conversation. On a device, communication can be distorted or even fabricated completely. Unhealthy trends like Catfishing can be started when an innocent individual attempts to begin a relationship on a screen without being aware of what is truly going on beyond it.
Camp reveals to many children the simplest joys in life. There are many wonderful things that can be enjoyed more without the distractions of technology. That is why 90% of the camps approved by the American Camp Association (ACA) utilize a cell phone ban for both campers and summer staff.
A tech-free environment is an anomaly in Western culture today. Going to restaurants often times results in ordering food or paying the check from a screen. Not only is technology such as sports on television or social media news embraced, but there are very few known places people can go where electronic devices are not allowed. For technology addicted adolescents, summer camp may be the perfect remedy. While there is no fool-proof solution to an addiction, there are positive options which can lead to growth in many areas of life.
Summer camp is a place intentionally absent of internet access and social media, so that a child can spend time as their grandparents did, in the outdoors bonding with other children they hardly know. Relationships at camp might not last longer than a week. There is not a simple five step solution on how to make lasting relationships in a social bubble like summer camp. Neither is there a guarantee that the experience will be beneficial for every child. But moving a child out of an addictive pattern can be exactly what they need to move past it.
Mickey Black, owner of several summer camps in the Pocono Mountains argues: "It's a simpler life, a little bubble from the world for that time," he said. Teens have a more difficult time forming relationships and meeting new people with the distraction of electronic devices.
Camp reveals that kids still want to have fun beyond electronic games and media. Seeing a child half-way through a camp session forgetting to ask about his phone because he is playing hallway hockey with his roommates is a beautiful sight. Kids will be kids. They do not need a screen to have fun nor do they need constant supervision when a screen is not present.
The social pressure for teenagers in this age is like none other. Social media creates a culture of adolescents and teenagers addicted to their phones, with the two becoming inseparable. With many children thinking that electronic devices are a necessity, it is important for adults to show them that this is not the case. Life can be attainable and even successful when a media fast takes place. Pulling the plug doesn't always result in death.
Many youths have difficulty making and maintaining relationships without constant social interaction using texting and social media. While a tech-free environment will not remove the ability to sustain relationships using technology, it can spark the ability in an individual child to learn the social skills of how to bond over things in life beyond the digital world.
How to Pull the Plug
There are several ways to take a break from social media and electronic devices. Summer camps that do not allow electronics are merely a great option for youth. Children can gain social skills through a week of summer camp. Unlike school, where an intensive learning environment leaves many children wishing they were playing video games, camp is a place where children can thrive in a structured yet free space.
Children are often the greatest victims of that. To prepare children on interacting through social media, adults should first teach them how to socialize and develop without the assistance of one.
Looking back in my life, there were few times where I would not categorize myself as social. Playing basketball with friends on the playground after school in elementary to grabbing ice cream before soccer practice in high school, I have always been one for social activities. I was also social when I went home in the evenings. I started by conversing with my sister, parents and neighbors nearby as an adolescent, playing games and telling stories, while they responded with the same. But once high school rolled around, things began to change a bit. Social media began to spark an interest in my life, the thrill of getting likes and comments on a post became far more exhilarating than a meaningful conversation with a loved one. While sports and adventure continued to spark an interest, there was always the internet to confide in when the weather was poor or my legs were sore. Little thought was put into the effects of the device in my hands. Never would I have thought that an addiction was occurring. If someone had told me that I was addicted or that I was consumed by my electronic habits, I would have told them they were crazy.
Being a social individual does not come naturally to all people. Some have to be encouraged or even guided to speak with others and engage in conversation. A summer camp void of electronics can help assist with this process. In most camp settings, children are going into an environment where they do not know many people. Unless the child is returning to the camp for a consecutive year, they will be living for a week with youth who go to different schools and churches from them. While some will have a previous connection with one or two people, many will be thrown into a crowd with no prior knowledge of what it will be like.
Pressure on the Internet
Social media often pressures youth to grow up quicker. They see cultural trends like fashion or fad dieting, causing them to avoid childish behavior. Camp provides a healthy environment for kids to be kids as they learn to grow while keeping their youth. From singing silly songs before meals to hunting for a treasure box with coins for their cabin team, camp reveals that kids enjoy doing childish things.
Many kids in 2019 will grow up reading books in PDF form online or listening to their books on audio, rather than the tradition paper bound book of text. Reading words off of a screen rather than on paper can vastly change the message and quality of the content being presented. When a medium changes, the message will as well. Matthew Pines is an author pushing for the tech-free camp model. He sees a vast difference in children now than when he was growing up. He writes: "Curiosity is increasingly threatened by algorithms and predictive technology that serve up content and information to digital consumers based on what they have previously consumed and liked. Imagination is starved when a child’s play ceases to be self-directed and instead becomes programmed, data-driven, predictive, and adaptive." Like playing hide and seek on an afternoon of camp and singing silly songs afterwards to serenade the winners, camp is a place which restores tradition and curiosity. it is not filled with patterns and predictive technology, as he calls it, but rather creativity of the mind and the space around the individual.
James Steyer, CEO and founder of the group, Common Sense Media, who did these studies explains his rationale behind the research.
"There is nothing better than face-to-face communication for understanding emotions and empathy and really being able to communicate with people."
Effective communication is difficult to obtain and sustain in relationships. Making a valiant effort to both listen well and speak with purpose does not come naturally to many. It takes failure after failure, so practice is important. By learning to communicate face to face at an early age, children can become better communicators quicker, better preparing them for the life as an adult that will come sooner than expected. Taking a hiatus from the distractions of the digital age can help adolescents better communicate.
Taking a Break
To truly understand one's feelings, persons must move away from coping mechanisms used to push away difficulties in life. A smart phone with social media can be a way to cope with pain and therefore creates a trap, often believed to be an inescapable prison. However, even a temporary hiatus from such practice can be exactly what the adolescent needs.
"When you are constantly on your phone or texting people in an anonymous or very impersonal way, it's a very different communication and studies show that that can impact intimacy, empathy, and some of the basic elements of human communication."
While this can prove to be a difficulty in the long run, camp invites challenges like none other. From playing new and exciting games to building the cabin as a team and family, camp forces many children out of their comfort zone in a healthy way. Playing fun games involving running around in the dark and solving a mystery are good for the development of the child who has had prior difficulty making friends but instantly has five at camp. Using a diverse variety of activities can bring children together of various skill sets and they can work together to achieve a goal. Social development can increase an individual's ability to collaborate and work with others as a cohesive team.
Social Benefits of Camp
Amanda Aronoff is a mother who sends her two children to a tech-free summer camp. While it is hard for her to abstain from hearing their voices for a week, she says it's good for them. "They learn independence and have a chance to negotiate social situations on their own." She knows that being away from home for a week will greatly benefit the way her children interact with difficult situations on their own. "If they could text me every time they were upset, that would obviously change that scenario." She thinks it is good to have a break from the everyday home dynamic for a week of camp. There are a vast amount of social skills children obtain at camp, some will be discussed in following paragraphs.
In addition to teamwork, encouragement can go a long way in the life of an adolescent. Summer camp provides the space for many children to be told "You can do it!", for maybe the first time. In this environment, they have the freedom to choose their adventure. It might be hiking a mountain, experimenting with science projects or sleeping under the stars. Children use their creative minds to dream big and a place like camp provides them with the tools to achieve their dreams. They are not defined by their parents at camp. They are not the younger brother of so and so or the daughter of some important person, they are their own person. So wanting to find the Sasquatch in the woods is rational and sleeping under the stars at night to get a glimpse of him can become a reality at a place like camp. At a tech-free summer camp, the rest of the world is on hold. Children run the world for this one week out of the year. They are seen as people with valid aspirations. They work hard for what they want in this creative environment and can obtain social skills to build on for the rest of their lives.
Camp counselors are often great influences on the life of a young child. Every child is going to look up to someone. If there is not a positive role model in the life of the child, he will turn to potentially a negative one. By placing mature emerging adults into the lives of children, we can see them desire to be more like their older counterparts. They want to act responsible and gain respect in their societies. When these children are poured into by adults, it can make a lasting impact in their confidence, self-worth, and overall desire to strive for excellence. Many yearn to step up into leadership roles when the opportunities arise. Great leaders not only impact their followers; they also build great leaders.
Children have the opportunity to learn, communicate, and grow with people of different backgrounds. For many kids, going to camp can mean bunking with a child who is a different ethnicity, religion or economic status than they are. They are able to learn not only what the camp is pushing in their agenda but also more about how they interact with people different than them. They learn how to handle relationships and who they commune with. Friends are made at camp.
Exposure to Diversity
When I was growing up, all of my friends looked like me. They ate similar foods and practiced rituals like those my family did. But at camp, I was able to interact with people who practiced different rituals. My first summer working at a summer camp, my cabin had two bunk beds for the boys and one for the counselor and co-counselor. All four of the boys were from the greater Atlanta area. One lived with his married parents, one came from foster home, one lived with his single father, and the last lived with his two moms. Of these four boys was three different ethnicities and three religions practiced in their respective homes. This was a great opportunity both for me as the counselor and them as the campers to learn about how the lives and experiences of others can be vastly different than ours. This was my favorite week of camp that summer because it provided me a privilege to see how different people work together to make a great team. The group had an exorbitant amount of fun that week as we learned about one another and grew together as a community focused on building one another up.
Conflict can arise at camp and must be dealt with in house. There is no parental guidance at camp but there are rules. Children cannot roam free, but they are also not as restricted in many areas like they might be at home. Children can choose which outdoor activities they participate in. Critical thinking is an aspect of this decision making process. There may be conflicting interests at play when choosing a path at camp. Children who are forced into football by their fathers can choose to take a fine arts class at camp. The child whose parents are deathly afraid of the outdoors can sleep in the woods under the lean-to tent he built with his newly acquired friends. Learning to deal with conflict on both a personal and interpersonal level is a benefit of camp. This critical thinking process is something that the child will continue to develop as they grow and learn as emerging adults.
Biblical Backing for Taking a Break from Technology
Technology looks vastly different than it did in Biblical times, but this doesn't mean we cannot or should not turn to scripture for Biblical backing of the principle for a tech-free environment. There are so many things Christians can learn through scripture when the distraction of screens are not at hand. God has intended a purpose for each individual's life, yet the Christian can often become distracted by things more appealing to the eye. On a platform such as the internet, most things are created intentionally to be appealing to the eye and to distract users from another task, attempting to reel them in to new content. Believers must be aware of what they are doing.
First, God created. He created this world. He gave man life. He created man and woman in his image (Genesis 1:27). This is not merely a transferred quality of personhood, although all are made in his likeness (James 3:9) ; it is a condition in which the follower of Christ lives. Imago Dei points to God's unfathomable love for us, displayed through the life of Christ. God sent his Son, perfect and blameless, to die for the sinner created in his image to restore a relationship with them. God didn't just create and move on, he modeled a piece of us after him. We are made in his image. This made us worth redeeming.
By taking screen time away from children for a period, adult influences can introduce concepts difficult to grasp. When a screen is not present, people are forced to think for themselves, unable to seek guidance from every web source about the subject matter. The Gospel message of Jesus Christ will not become truth to everyone in their time on this earth. Yet, God often uses a tech-free environment to focus the eyes of individuals onto him for the first time. When our eyes are focused on Christ alone and there are not distractions, we can keep our whole being set on him. A tech-free camp can be an ideal environment for this transformation to take place.
The New Testament tells the church time and time again to be sober-minded in thinking. It is extremely easy to lose calmness and intentionality with the presence of screens. Losing focus is easier than ever, with a social "network" in everyone's pocket, it is easy to forget about the one around them. The enemy uses this to deceive the hearts of humans, trapping them into a hole they don't even realize they've fallen into.
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (ESV).
1 Peter 5:8
It is easy to fall into the trap of forgetfulness. When believers take their eyes off the Lord and do not take time to rest and retreat in devotion to God, we can easily be attacked by the enemy. Titus 2 instructs men to hold self-control and be dignified in the body of Christ, thus influencing and "urging" younger men to do the same (Titus 2:1-6). Is the church coming alongside one another to think critically about the way we consume media? Are we willing to take a fast from the things we hold so dearly to focus on God working in us?
It can be easy to idolize the screens in our pockets. When we are not actively thinking about usage and consumption of technology, it often results in being sucked in for a longer period of time than planned. Screens can easily become an idol in the life of the believer, as well as non-believer. When screens are idolized, it can be easy for focus to be shifted from things on high to things below. The first commandment clearly states that we should not have other gods before the God on high (Exodus 20:3). Yet, it often feels as if the screens in our pockets become higher priority over God. Taking time to set aside all electronic devices and spending time with He whose name is above all other names (Philippians 2:9) can be largely beneficial in refocusing one's eyes on the creator and sustainer of all things. It's easy to lose focus, so losing the distractions can help people stay on track.
A tech-free summer camp can be the perfect environment for a child to develop and grow socially. Technology, especially cell phones, can serve a great purpose in society. They increase communication over distances, make problems difficult to solve easy and sustain relationships from afar. But there are also negative aspects of such communication when it is abused. For a child who has creativity without opportunity to express that, camp can be a great option. At tech-free camp, no phone is not a problem!
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To see an analysis of why summer camps heavily use technology in marketing, please read my creative exemplification: Why Tech Free Camps Utilize Technology in Marketing below.