Teens panic as they're forced to unplug at camp

AP/reporternews.com ^ | Friday, May 15, 2009 | Megan K. Scott

[martin_fierro]

NEW YORK -- Tim Chai keeps in touch with friends through Facebook, listens to music on his iPod and never goes anywhere without his BlackBerry.

So when the 17-year-old was looking for a summer camp, he ruled out a church camp with a no cell phone, no computer policy.

[martin_fierro]

Jeez, kids, get outside and play.

[martin_fierro]

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[bobby.223]

good God, the poor babies. I don’t think they know HOW to go outside and play now, just damn sad.

[TheZMan]

All this new gadgetry is accomplishing is a reduced societal cohesion and decreased neural activity. It all started when TV was introduced, but it’s gotten much worse since then.

[GOP_Lady]

Panic attacks? Oh, my! ;-)

[bigbob]

I’m sure the ACLU would claim this is a form of torture...

[doc1019]

Teens panic as they're forced to unplug at camp>/I>

LOL! As a matter of fact … LMAO! Can’t make this stuff up. ;-)

[martin_fierro]

Buried at the end of the article:

When camp starts, plugged-in children may feel a little disoriented, like a part of them is missing, said Dr. Michael Assel, associate professor of pediatric psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Those feelings should subside as children get involved in camp activities, he said.

Campers say that's what usually happens once camp activities begin. They forget about their lost social connections much like they forget about television.

"They keep you so busy, you are having so much fun, I forget about the computer. I forget about Facebook," said Max Truen, 15, of Dix Hills, N.Y., who goes to New Image Camp's Camp Pocono Trails each summer.

So the kids get over it. But why let the facts interfere with a good headline, right AP?

[max americana]

> “I just thought it was too much for me to handle,” said Tim, of Carmel, Ind. “I love my Internet. I love my phone. I’m not ashamed to say it.”

P*ssy.

[naturalman1975]

In general, I agree, but speaking as a secondary school teacher, I have seen these things pay real dividends for some kids in terms of social contact. Kids who are a bit unusual in various ways or who have unusual interests, who can't find other kids like them or who share those interests in their own schools or communities and who do manage to find others who fit the bill online.

Yes, kids can take it too far - but in moderation a lot of these things have real positives too.

We don't do the whole summer camp thing in Australia, it's not really part of our culture, but if we did, I really wouldn't want to put kids who have managed to find friends - real friends - online in a situation where they are forced to break contact with those friends for weeks at a time.

I do have to say, though, that I'm also somewhat concerned by this statement:

So when the 17-year-old was looking for a summer camp, he ruled out a church camp with a no cell phone, no computer policy.

One of the big problems I see with a lot of kids today is that parents are giving them too much choice. I don't think even most 17-year-olds should be 'ruling out' things of this magnitude - the decision should be with the parents.

OK, maybe a camp doesn't matter that much - but I teach at one of the most expensive, prestigious schools in my country - and it astonishes me when I encounter parents who say: "We wanted to send our son there, but he refused to go." or "We gave him a choice and he chose this school."

People are giving kids way too much choice. Listen to their input, sure, and more and more as they get older - but the adults should make the actual decisions.

[HoosierHawk]

I suppose that if they actually went outside to go fishing, they'd have to leave this at home as well.

[TheZMan]

“I really wouldn’t want to put kids who have managed to find friends - real friends - online in a situation where they are forced to break contact with those friends for weeks at a time”

I understand your point, but at the same time those kids are going to get out into the real world in a few short years and have to find jobs where they *must* interact with people in person.

If your only communication skills post high school consist of “hlo how r u? i am fyn. wut r u doing!?” then you will either fail miserably in your first (handful) of jobs, or be perpetually viewed as an idiot. I’ve got several of these illiterate boobs in my company and they drive me batty.

[greatdefender]

I remember when I was at church retreat, we were told only youth leaders were allow to cell phones and watches. All others were allow to have them. to me, that was a good idea because a church camp/retreat was suppose to “retreat” from worldly things and concentrate the time about the Lord & God for only few days. To tell you the truth, thats how I was able to know The Lord more better that way and experience my “first love”. Man, that was an amazing time there and there where times i want to relive those moments again.

[Moonman62]

It’s been about fifteen years since I’ve seen a kid go out and play on Christmas morning, too.

[Semper Mark]

That's where I'd draw the line...

You just can't fish without a Lowrance depth finder.

[Dallas59]

Church Camp....Glen Rose Texas....1970. No TV, no radio....3 squares a day and lots of hiking along the river and hills. Loved it!

[Semper Mark]

Sounds a lot like Parris Island.

[naturalman1975]

I understand your point, but at the same time those kids are going to get out into the real world in a few short years and have to find jobs where they *must* interact with people in person.

Yes, but kids learn social skills best when they have the chance to start out learning them with people they most easily relate to. Once they've mastered those basic skills in that environment, it's much easier for them to extrapolate them more broadly.

Kid who are lucky enough to 'fit the norm' tend to do well socially because they do spend their days in an environment with other kids who are like themselves. If we really want to deal with social difficulties among kids we need to find ways to make this possible for all kids. In a society that has pretty well decided that all children should be educated in as 'diverse' groups as possible, which actually greatly diminishes the chance of 'unusual' kids finding other people like themselves, that means we have to look outside the traditional environments of childhood such as schools to make that happen. The net is a powerful tool in this regard.

If your only communication skills post high school consist of “hlo how r u? i am fyn. wut r u doing!?” then you will either fail miserably in your first (handful) of jobs, or be perpetually viewed as an idiot. I’ve got several of these illiterate boobs in my company and they drive me batty.

I can understand why - but that's why we should be providing kids with the structures in which they can learn social skills, so they're not just forced to try and develop them by themselves. Let them use the net to make friends - but also insist that they do so by writing in English. The kids I work with have excellent communication skills because we insist that they use their computers to actually write in a meaningful way. TXTspeak is fine for mobile phones - it's not for e-mail. Make these distinctions, rather than leave kids floundering because so people are pretending the net doesn't matter and is just a toy, and so we don't need to teach kids to use it properly.

[Dallas59]

Well I failed to mention Bible study and related activities. I still have stuff from those days. Rocks, fossils and large pieces of quartz from the river bank. To be young again in a different time.

[Thrownatbirth]

So when the 17-year-old was looking for a summer camp

Sheesh! Grow up, dude. Your local Armed Forces recruiter has several suggestions.