"Young people between 8 and 18 spend an average of six and a half hours a day absorbed in media – much of the time is solitary."

Pro-children solutions

Electronic technology has done a lot to make life more convenient. Sadly, the 1950s dream of having robots and computers do most jobs so that adults could work 15-hour weeks never came true. In fact, the seductiveness of new technology probably contributes to most Americans’ working longer than 40 hours per week.

For many people, checking their e-mail outside of work hours is habitual. Others keep their cell phone handy to make and receive calls during time off. This summer, I regularly saw parents "on vacation" at the beach checking their e-mail on handheld devices while their children splashed in the ocean. Sure, these gadgets are convenient, but they easily blur the lines between work, play and family time.

Electronic technologies also provide a mixed bag – sorry, stream – of media. Television programs, DVD movies, Internet sites and video games are entertaining, often educational. On the other hand, unsavory content and time absorption are the two most frequently cited problems associated with these media. Research last year by the Kaiser Foundation concluded that young people between 8 and 18 spend an average of six and a half hours a day absorbed in media. Most of it is electronic and much of the time is solitary.

So parents can be drawn into more work; children into more isolating, unwholesome screen time. Sound familiar? Probably. These are becoming such trendy laments in 21st-century America that some of you may be tempted to stop reading here. But don’t, because the rest of this article is about solutions. Not pro-technology or anti-technology, but pro-children, pro-camp solutions.

Password: Thoughtful use

Can there be any way out of the technology trap? Can there be uses of technology that connect, rather than disconnect people? What can save children from the (de)vices of the modern world? The answers, of course, are: Yes, yes and camp.

Is it really that simple? Indeed. All it requires is thoughtful application of intentionally selected technologies. Whatever the technology, it must meet one of four criteria: efficiency, connection, education and entertainment. Electronic technologies are particularly welcome when they save us time, nourish our relationships, teach us something or amuse us in healthy, wholesome ways. If your next use of a cell phone, computer, digital music player or handheld hybrid meets one of these criteria, without noticeably eroding one of the other criteria, then it has passed the "thoughtful" test.

These days, every camp uses electronic technology of some sort, from telephones to toasters. Even the most rustic and isolated camps use electronic technologies for safety (e.g., GPS units, walkie-talkies, satellite phones) or publicity (e.g., Web pages). Evaluating a camp’s appropriate use of technology no longer involves questioning whether it uses new technology, but how.