The Carefree Summers of Childhood?

I recently read an excerpt from Lenore Skenazy's book "Free Range Kids" (http://tinyurl.com/oxr7qc).  Skenazy was dubbed "America's Worst Mom" by the media after she let her child ride the subway home alone, but she argues that kids are more responsible and capable than we give them credit for.  Generations and generations of American kids grew up playing unsupervised outside, and turned out fine.  

It has been less than 15 years since I was in elementary school, and I remember many spring and summer days playing in the creek or the woods by my neighborhood, or walking to the pool a few neighborhoods over, with my only instructions being to be home by dinner.  But now I frequently talk to parents who are shocked and concerned that we don't allow kids to bring their cell phones to camp.  

It seems like people are starting to realize that our world of excessive technology and obsessive amounts of time spent indoors may prove to be detrimental to future generations.  Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods" (www.richardlouv.com) looks at what it might mean that this generation of America's kids are growing up indoors.  

In this world of being always plugged in, institutions like summer camp are more important than ever.  Summer camp gives kids the chance to play outside, enjoy nature, and be creative in ways that most kids just don't get to do these days.  Splashing in the lake, surviving summer nights without air conditioning, and playing in the woods are activities that were once standard for American kids, but seem to be going by the wayside.  Summer camp gives today's generation of kids at least a piece of that oh-so-important piece of childhood: a carefree summer existence that is slowly disappearing with the overbooked calendars so common among today's youth.

The Language of Camp

I am always amazed at what a conversation starter camp can be.  I think it is to be expected that among friends who have worked at camp--whether the same camp or different camps--that it would be a popular topic of conversation, as people who work at camp usually like to talk about it, and non-camp friends quickly get sick of camp stories.  Until this year, however, I've never found camp as a major connection point with complete strangers.  I think this might be due to the fact that I was in school, and so when introducing myself to people, I told them my name and that I went to Elon.  Now, the thing that comes after my name is that I work at a summer camp, and I have discovered that there are two types of people:  those who have some connection to camp, and those who don't.  

Those who have no connection to camp typically ask "so what do you do when it isn't summer?"  Those who have some kind of camp experience immediately share it.  Whether they worked at a camp, or just have fond memories of being a camper, they light up a little, and tell me about it.  It seems that camp is a kind of universal language--anytime I run into someone with a camp background, there is an instant connection, and it tends to be an enjoyable conversation.  Every time this happens, I am reminded of the incredible communities that camp builds, and amazed at how, even outside of summer, and outside of any particular place, camp keeps doing what it is best at:  building relationships.