The world is more automated than ever. Interactions are mediated through technology, there is an easy button or app for everything, and reality itself is virtual. The rapid development of AI is changing the way we interact with information and each other, impacting the way our children learn and develop. Camp is the last best place for young people to develop resiliency, critical thinking, and a deep connection to the world through immersive, experiential learning.

The Real World

In his book The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt has a simple thesis: We are under-protecting our children in the virtual world and overprotecting them in the real world. There is a deep-seated and growing impression among parents, encouraged by 24-hour media coverage, that the world is profoundly unsafe for children. After all, the real world includes such things as mass shootings, Lyme’s disease, kidnappers, poisonous snakes, drunk drivers, and sock puppets. The parental instinct is to protect our children, and what safer place than under our own roof? Unfortunately, this decreasingly means time for board games, tea parties, puzzles, and epic Lego builds and increasingly means time online.

As part of the MTV Generation, video game enthusiast, and overall curious person, I am not opposed to technology or online media. I love having the sum of all human knowledge at my fingertips and the ease of keeping in touch with old high school friends who live far away. However, it is abundantly clear that overreliance on technology (and particularly chronic use of social media) has numerous detrimental effects on child development and learning. It is linked to increased loneliness and other mental health challenges, and it tends to keep young people sedentary and removed from the natural world, which are tied to physical, social, and mental health challenges. There is an increasing body of research on the use of AI, which can negatively impact critical thinking skills and even atrophy parts of the brain.

An Unmediated Space

Camp is the clear antidote to this challenge. It is a profoundly safe space, which can put parents at ease about the dangers of the world, and it is unplugged from the devices that are ever-present in other spaces. Camp immerses them in the natural world, engages them in face-to-face interaction, and gets them moving. Camp is the perfect place to experience the real world and envision what the world might be.

Camp is a space of exploration. More than 90% of campers agree that they tried something new at camp. This novelty invites them outside their comfort zone and offers hands-on learning opportunities. The learning is psychosomatic, engaging the mind through bodily and situational knowing, which is increasingly rare among young people. At camp, we learn through doing. Teachers know the value of this type of learning, which is why they incorporate hands-on learning, labs, and discussion groups in the classroom. At camp, we are engaged in this sort of kinesthetic learning all day long for days at a time. This can actually change the way young people view learning and lead to increased curiosity. Campers discover an aptitude for handcrafts or a passion for entomology. They overcome their fear of heights or the dark, and they discover that the Bible is not all that intimidating after all.

As they learn in this way, it encodes in their brains differently. This happens for two reasons. First, knowledge encodes more deeply when it involves multiple senses, and camp is profoundly multisensory. Second, knowledge encodes more deeply and is easier to recall when it is attached to positive emotions. This is one of the greatest and most obvious strategies of learning at camp: it is fun. 97% of campers agree that they had fun at camp.

Best Practices

Camp leaders can lean into the strengths of camp as participatory in multiple ways. First and foremost, include the campers in the planning and the leadership. One of the key problems of other learning spaces is that young people are treated as consumers. They sit passively while someone else tells them the knowledge that they are expected to retain or they simply look it up on their device. We want to move them to producers. This means always asking the question: “Can a camper do this?” We want them to have agency. We want them to take ownership of their experience and their learning. Let them help plan the schedule. Let them plan and lead games and worship services. Camp should not be just another presentation. We want them to be co-creators.

Second, engage the senses. This means incorporating movement into the learning and putting them in places rich in sights, sounds, smells, and textures. Sing songs that include actions. Move Bible studies and worship services outside. Cook food over the fire. Engage the campers in the preparation and the cleanup. This means scheduling more time for just about everything.

Third, focus on action and reflection. Teach your staff how to process experiences. The best camps never waste a teachable moment. We should always be on the lookout for an opportunity to learn from something in context. This is especially true with conflict resolution. We know that difficult situations will arise at camp, and we can prepare our staff and campers for these situations. They can learn to work through difficult relational challenges at camp through forgiveness and reconciliation, which will benefit them and the world around them when they leave camp. The clearest place to practice this at camp is on the challenge course. Use creative challenges and activities to engage camper groups in situational learning, and then take the time to reflect and process the experience together.

The Life-Affirming Space

Finally, focus on cooperative activities and affirmations. Campers come from an achievement-oriented world where people are rewarded for what they do. We can help young people understand that their worth lies not in what they produce but in who they are as beloved children of God. Work together to uncover their God-given talents, and find cooperative activities that require multiple skill sets to thrive. This means using competitive games sparingly because camp is not about beating others or claiming victory. It is about discovering through action and reflection how we can contribute to God’s kingdom here on earth. For this reason, one of the most important things you can do at camp is practice affirmations. Have the summer staff and the campers tell one another what they appreciate about each other and what gifts they see in them. Write them down in a form the campers can take home! After days of living together, playing together, and working through challenges, they will have deep insights into each other’s spiritual gifts.

Through the participatory nature of camp, young people can discover these gifts for the first time or be reminded of them. When it comes from trusted friends and young adult mentors, these affirmations can be life-affirming and transformative. Happy camping!