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Camps Telling Kids to Leave the Laptops and Cell Phones at Home

by Terrence O'Brien on May 15, 2009 at 05:12 PM

Kids spend a lot of time attached to some form of technology -- be it an iPod, a cell phone, or just vegging out on MySpace. But summer is here, which means some kids will be shipped off to camp and forced to unplug.

It's not surprising that this has tweens and teens (and parents) panicking. Kids are used to being in constant contact with their peers via text messages and Facebook, and parents are used to having instant access to their children on cell phones. Still, as we've mentioned before, unplugging isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Gary Rudman of GTR Consulting, told the Associated Press, that teens were under a lot of pressure to maintain their own personal "brand" on sites like Facebook and MySpace. And, while the initial reaction to a week of bunked-beds and sloppy joes may be to recoil in horror, many teens quickly adjust. They make friends and have real face-to-face interactions.

A week at camp may not lead to children giving up technology en-mass, but it will probably help them put less of an emphasis on it. We here at Switched think you're never too old to unplug for a bit, go camping, hiking, or even just lay around at the beach -- but leave your cell phone at home. You'll thank us. [From: Washington Post]

Tags: camp, kids, parenting, summer camp, SummerCamp, teens, top, travel, tweens, unplug, unplugged

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