Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 16 augusT 2018

For many kids, summer means powering down for camp

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associ-
ated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — If teens
are so attached to their
phones and all things con-
nected, why do so many of
them wind up in no-device
summer camps with smiles
on their faces?
Thirteen-year-old Daniela
Blumenfeld of Scarsdale,
New York, just finished her
fifth summer at sleepaway
camp with no devices
beyond a simple iPod.
“I didn’t really miss my
phone,” she said, especial-
ly given camp distractions
like banana boating — that
is, riding a yellow, banana-
shaped inflatable towed
by a motorboat.
America’s summer camps
have gone device-free
in a big way. Most sleep-
away camps moved to
ban personal electronics
years ago, driven by the
idea that campers should
soak up the scenery, sports,
crafts and camaraderie
their parents are shelling
out hundreds of dollars for,
all in service to slower living In this July 20, 2018, file photo, children gather at their respective cabins and get ready for the day’s activities during a four-week
and a rest for their still-de- summer camp session at Camp Sea Gull near Arapahoe, N.C.
veloping brains. Associated Press
But the big news may be mail phones in care pack- ter, Liat, who once spent leb Santana, an 11-year- “There’s nothing really to
that many kids seem not to ages and equally sneaky two weeks at the French old from North Babylon on see on my phone,” she
mind at all. campers who stash them in Woods program, reported New York’s Long Island, just said.
About 90 percent of the their bunks. something similar during spent a week at a sleep- But teens remain teens.
nearly 8,400 sleepaway Sometimes reverse psy- a recent three-week teen away Christian camp in the One of Daniela’s camp
camps counted by the chology helps. Nigel Wat- tour of Thailand. Pennsylvania woods. That friends had smuggled in an
American Camp Associa- son, camp director at the “It was so fun,” she said of meant no Fortnite. Caleb, iPod touch — basically an
tion are now device free, French Woods Sports and the trip. “I wasn’t craving one of four kids, said it was iPhone without a cellular
though some allow limited Arts Center, a high school- phone time. I think since I a breeze, although a lon- connection that can con-
time with screenless iPods only sleepaway camp in did have it I wasn’t as ob- ger break might have been nect to Wi-Fi for social me-
and other internet-free mu- the Catskills near New York, sessed with using it.” Liat a problem. dia, FaceTime video chat
sic players. recalls spending his days at considered it a relief to step But he’s making up for lost and more.
A few teen-only programs previous jobs confiscating away from the grind of so- time now that he’s home. While the girls were on an
provide cabin Wi-Fi and will smartphones and his eve- cial media and texting. “The Fortnite is a big deal, off-campus trip they found
let smartphones, laptops or nings calling parents to re- Daniela and Liat are now more than a phone,” said Wi-Fi and Daniela surprised
tablets through the door so port infractions. vacationing in Israel with his mother, Dorothy Gia her parents with a quick
long as they’re kept in cab- “If you found one, they’d their two sisters and par- Santana. “Since he got call. The other girls did the
ins and bunk areas. Some have another. Some ents. home he’s been up to 3 same, she said.
camps provide scheduled brought three to camp. It Their phone use has picked in the morning some days “Yeah, they were pretty
computer and internet was almost where I need- up speed, said mom Ilanit playing.” surprised to hear from me,”
time — partly for coding, ed a full-time policeman Blumenfeld. Caleb, however, insists he she said with a laugh. “They
app development or web- to take care of it,” he said. “I’m like, this is too much has other plans for spend- were like, ‘How are you
site design classes built into At French Woods, though, phone time while we’re ing the remainder of his calling us?’”q
their curricula, and partly Watson lets kids use phones on vacation,” she said. summer. “I want to get
for limited time on games and other devices in their “They can only be on their out and do stuff with my
such as the immensely cabins, but nowhere else, phones or watching TV an friends,” he said. “I won’t
popular Fortnite, an online so long as they power them hour and a half when it’s be playing Fortnite the
multiplayer survival/shoot- down at lights-out. daylight and at night they whole time.”
ing experience. His surprising finding: The can go crazy.” Daniela said that going
Among other things, camps phones often end up in a For other kids, device-free phone-free at camp was
don’t want to be respon- drawer after a few days at camp also serves as a valu- easier since most of her
sible for loss or damage to camp. “They’re more often able, if brief, time-out from friends were also away at
pricey technology brought than not just comfort blan- games, social media and tech-free programs and
from home, despite sneaky kets,” Watson said. other increasingly persis- not all over text and social
helicopter parents who Daniela’s 15-year-old sis- tent digital distractions. Ca- media.