 |
| Campers work together and work on skills they don’t even know they are gaining! |
One of our campers said that she was really proud of herself for “learning how to survive nature with no electronics.” We thought this was just awesome! So many young people are so dependent on cellphones, computers, and video games. The camp provides a place for them to develop and improve skills that don’t rely on electronics.
The other day we retweeted something from @NatureRocks that said: “A new study shows that kids who ditch smartphones for outdoor fun are ‘substantially’ better at reading emotions,” and linked to an article giving some background on the study.
As a camp that has had a pretty strict no electronics policy for some time, we are so grateful that there is scientific backup to support our policy. Most campers and parents are appreciative of the break-in technology, but every year there is a little more dissent. We know that being able to better read social cues isn’t the only benefit of ditching electronics while at camp; however, it is a skill that kids will get less and less practice with as electronics continue to play an ever-important part of their lives.
Check out more information on the study in an article on ScienceDaily.com