Thinking of Camp this Summer? Go For It!

There's a great Ted Talk I came across today about how Summer Camp helps prepare kids for the skills they need for today's job market. The skills needed were identified in a study done by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and they include thinking critically, creativity and the ability to communicate and collaborate with others among the top five of the list.

The argument is that with all of the time children today spend on electronic devices, their communication and collaboration skills are suffering greatly.  Summer Camp forces kids into an environment in which they must learn to work with others and live without technology, therefore helping to build these skills that they need.

The speaker, Steve Baskin, tells a tale in the video of two college roommates who are not getting along at all.  How are they dealing with it?  By airing their grievances on facebook, of course!  A sad tale made even more pathetic because it is true - we are raising human beings who do not know how to interact properly with other human beings.

The solution, says Mr. Baskin, is not necessarily to ban technology, but to make sure our children have the opportunity to experience life without it and to give them experiences, such as summer camp, that help them practice their interaction with real, live people.

I would argue that regulating a child's access to technology and simply allowing children to play with other children, leisurely and without planning or interruption from grown ups, will have the same affect - it seems to be working in our household, at any rate.  I would also argue that the way our public school system is commonly arranged also encourages isolation.  While they are surrounded by people, children have less and less time to actually interact with each other at school or to freely express their ideas or pursue their creativity; one of the many reasons why we homeschool.

Bottom line:  if you're having trouble unplugging your kid, summer camp may be the solution.