Unplugged at Camp
Bob Strodel, Executive Director
You have to admire the marketing the telecommunications industry has done over the last 10 to 15 years. When I was a Brookwoods camper, our family watched a television that received signals through an antenna on top of the set- “rabbit ears”. Beyond the cost of the TV, our family paid no monthly fee for the service. The phone was on the wall in the kitchen, and while local calls were free, making a “long distance” call was an expensive proposition. Flash forward to today’s “typical” American family, and take a look at your families’ monthly telecommunications bill. The United States Census Bureau estimates the average family spends $1997 each year for telecommunication expenses between television, internet connectivity, and cell phone service. That is $166 each month!Cell phones represent security to parents, and provide a level of comfort knowing they have instant access to their kids, anytime or anywhere. The ability to communicate for changing schedules is truly valued in today’s fast paced world. I was with one camp parent recently who has a clever “app” on his iPhone that actually displayed the location of the other members of his family. He can check to make sure his kids are in school, and his wife is not shopping at Nordstrom’s! I have yet to meet a parent whose child refused to carry a cell phone, as they are a great delight to the kids for reasons unrelated to keeping in contact with Mom or Dad. The latest smart phones allow access to a variety of different entertainment sources, and are almost miniature computers. (There are down sides as well. Hyper texting has created unforeseen problems, and recent studies have show that teens who text more than 120 times per day tend to engage in more risky social behaviors that include drinking, smoking and sex.)
At Brookwoods, Deer Run and Moose River Outpost, we tell the campers to leave their phone at home. Camps are temporary communities in outdoor settings that help foster personal development, real face-to-face communication, and provide a natural environment that one often does not have back at home. At camp we do understand that parents and campers both have different views on this topic of cell phones.
Sending your children to Brookwoods, Deer Run or Moose River Outpost already demonstrates your confidence and trust in selecting a camp experience for which the staff and administration will provide for your children’s safety on a 24-hour basis. Frequently a parent will ask if their camper can have a phone “just-in-case”. This sets up an artificial level of security that is an illusion. From a practical standpoint, cell reception is not very good at camp, and the ability of being connected is not reality. Camp activities do not lend themselves well to cell phones, which tend to break when dropped, sink when placed into water, and need to be charged on a regular basis.
For campers, camp is about new experiences, not about the need to maintain contact with friends from home on an instant basis. Hand writing a letter home might actually provide some introspection on ones’ time at camp rather than a quick communication into an electronic device with a language that bears no resemblance to the normal language used in face-to-face conversations. At camp we want the campers to be “connected” with each other, the staff and the variety of neat things to do during their stay.
Bob Strodel is the Executive Director at Christian Camps and Conferences, Inc. While he does enjoy using his iPhone away from camp, he is convinced that one of the best parts of camp is just being unplugged!
