A CAMP WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY? NOT ENTIRELY
By James Romoser, The Winston-Salem Journal
Like most 11-year-old children J.D. Hunt loves video games. When he got in the car after a week of swimming, rock climbing and hunting for crystals at the YMCA Camp Hanes, an overnight summer camp in King, he pounced on his handheld Nintendo.
But if he had a choice, he would gladly go without his favorite technology if he could have one more week at camp, he said.
"When you're there, you don't even think about it," Hunt said. "And then you get back, and you're like, 'Oh, sweet technology!' But that's only because you've been away so long."
In an age when cell phones, the Internet and digital entertainment are essentials of life even among children, the one holdout may be overnight summer camps, where nature on its own is still considered sacred and anything electronic is still rare.
But these havens of campfires and canoeing are slowly becoming more wired.
Camp directors say that there is no way to ban technology entirely, especially when it has become such a big part of the lives of parents and campers. In some cases, they say, technology can enhance the summer camp experience, not detract from it.
"Technology in some regards has found a place in camp, and in some regards it's completely off limits," said Jeff Solomon, the executive director of the National Camp Association.
Nearly all overnight summer camps prohibit campers from bringing cell phones, video games and portable music players. Camp directors say that each year an increasing number of children bring these items anyway, but most camps confiscate them.
"If the kids keep their cell phones, it can pose a problem. I think it actually alienates them from the other people and the camp experience," said Jamie Cosson, the executive director of Camp Weaver in Greensboro.
Local campers say they sometimes miss technological staples such as text messaging and AOL Instant Messenger, but for the most part, they appreciate having some time away from those distractions.
"Sometimes I do miss calling people and knowing what's going on. But it gives me a good time to get away from all that," said Michael Johnson, 14, of Mount Airy. He has attended Camp Hanes for six years in a row.
Carrie Myers, the program director at Keyauwee Program Center, a Girl Scout camp in Sophia, said that her campers miss cell phones and portable music, but she believes it's good for them to be without it, if only for a few days.
"We do like the traditional aspect of camp," she said. "The kids are out here for such a short amount of time, and having to deal with your phone ringing is just ridiculous."
There is less of a consensus among summer camps about other types of technology. Few camps allow children to use computers recreationally, but some are integrating computers into their activities.
Camp Hanes, for instance, has archery, swimming, digital photography classes and a camp-wide newspaper produced by campers using computers.
Jude Dooley, the resident camp director, said that these new activities, though they appeal to campers' technology appetites, are just new ways of doing what camp has always done - helping kids bond with counselors and friends.
"The counselors find great opportunities to sit and listen to the bullfrogs, and they also find opportunities to talk about frustration when a camper's digital photo doesn't come out," Dooley said.
E-mail is perhaps the most common form of technology at summer camps. It may be less personal than handwritten letters from home, but it's also much faster and more convenient.
According to the National Camp Association, more than 70 percent of overnight summer camps allow parents to e-mail their children while at camp - although most of them don't let campers write back electronically.
At Camp Hanes, parents can send e-mails for their children right to Dooley's e-mail account. He then prints them out and distributes them.
Camp Weaver uses a private company called Bunk1, which provides a system for parents to e-mail their children (for a fee) and look at camp photos online. Some children at Camp Weaver even get faxed messages from their parents.
But not all camps have embraced e-mail. Eagle's Nest Camp, near Brevard, asks parents to send paper letters only.
"We really like kids to be able to receive letters that have actually been handwritten and might include a care package or something," said Paige Lester-Niles, the camp director. "There's just something nice about receiving a handwritten letter in a stamped envelope."
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