Overnight Camp: A Respite from "Phone-Based Childhood" - Haidt and Baskin

“Summer camp! It’s the most effective way I know of to reverse the phone-based childhood and restore a playful, real-world childhood, at least for a few weeks each summer,” shares Jonathan Haidt, author of the new book out today - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. 

Thoughts shared by Jonathan Haidt and Steve Baskin, a 30-year camp director and the next board chair of American Camp Association, in this article echo what we at Maine Camp Experience often share when we talk about the benefits of overnight camp. We talk about how good it is for kids’ and teens’ mental health to be off screens and social media, and we also share the benefits of campers gaining resilience, confidence, and independence by being away from their parents who are often guilty of removing obstacles for their children to help them, but that can be detrimental to kids learning how to navigate the world, and cope with and learn from challenges.

Haidt shares that camp can help “reverse the rising tide of anxiety and depression. In fact, allow me to make a bold statement: Camps may be the perfect experience to address the exact problems of phone-based childhoods and overprotection. Camps are low-tech, but high-impact. They embody the virtues of a play-based childhood. They foster growth and confidence. And they feature four unusual structural advantages compared to home, schools, or other non-camp environments.” Baskin shares: “Summer camps have the exact kinds of features needed to help reverse the two trends that have driven much of the mental health crisis: overprotection in the real world and underprotection online. I believe that camps can—and should—be part of the solution because they take devices away from young people and place them into enriching, face-to-face communities that foster mental, physical, and emotional strength.”

There are huge immediate and long-lasting benefits to attending overnight camp.

Full Baskin/Haidt article here: https://www.afterbabel.com/p/why-kids-need-summer-camp?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share 

And, The New York Times just ran a feature article about Jonathan Haidt; link here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/business/jonathan-haidt-smartphones-coddling.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fE0.oO21.sKGiCOYKItbz&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&ugrp=u&sgrp=c-cb

Maine Camp Experience Resources & Tools

Looking for the perfect Maine camp for your child?  Try out our helpfultool where you can select a camp by choosing_: type of camp (girls, boys or coed) and session length (1-8 weeks).  It helps to narrow down a few camps to a manageable list that includes rates.  Then you can research these camps in more depth.  _

Next, be sure to contact our Maine Camp Guide, Laurie to discuss these camps as well as for free, year-round advice and assistance on choosing a great Maine summer camp for your child.