If ever there was a summer that children needed camp, it is this summer. So many children have been learning remotely, with very few days of in-person learning each week, if at all. Children are missing out on some important developmental opportunities due to COVID and camp is an environment that can provide so many of these missed occasions. Here are just a few reasons why camp is so important for children after a year of remote learning. 

Dangers of Screen Time Overload 

One of the many disadvantages of life with COVID is that children are spending more time than ever behind screens. I feel kids are missing out on social interactions and the ability to connect with friends. When children are watching their teacher on a screen, they can zone out or use their phone while not focusing on what is being taught. It is also hard for teachers to connect with their students in a virtual classroom. This will also lead to learning loss. Camp is the opposite of this. Kids are connecting with peers and learning from role models by being present and participating, rather than watching on a screen. During the camp day, campers and staff get to sit and talk to each other where valuable lessons are learned at many moments throughout the day. 

There is a significant decrease in face-to-face interactions, facial cues, body language and the ability to just stand in front of someone and see how what you say is received and react to that. Camp allows children to immerse themselves in socialization which children need more than ever! 

Lack of Extracurricular Activities 

Like so many things, sports and extracurricular activities are not running in the same way this year and it is having a huge effect on today’s youth. So many of the activities that help kids find their passion have been modified or canceled like sports, performing arts, or band. Children are not able to do what used to excite them, but at camp, we can give them the opportunity to play sports, create expressive art and even do hands on science experiments. These activities are harder to do everywhere else but at camp, counselors able to make these things safe, fun and give opportunities to do things kids love or might learn to love. 

Youth Peer Relationships 

One of the main challenges of virtual learning is that while children are seeing kids on a screen, they are not interacting with them. Children are missing out on those moments that make memories. Laugher or a spontaneous comment is next to impossible in a virtual classroom. When children sit together in camp at lunch and talk throughout the day, these are the moments that make camp so special. memories. It is what children are truly missing in a virtual environment. Kid-only opportunities are so valuable to children and it is so hard when children have lost nearly a year of those formative experiences. Just being with other kids is a learning curve of experiencing how to navigate being with peers and is an opportunity to find a common language. These are all important things that come along with kid-specific experiences such as camp. 

Loss of Independence 

Due to COVID, children are with their parents at home more than ever before. While this is good for family bonding, it can certainly delay a child’s development. When kids are home doing remote learning, a parent is often close by. Pre-COVID, when children go to school, they stretch in different ways socially and academically but when they are learning at home, they are still just at home. This limits how they think of themselves in relation to family or at home is still present, so kids are not stretching in the same way. Camp is where children can find their real self and become more independent. Separation from their parent will be so much more important this summer. Children need to gain independence individually and if they are only with their parents, they do not have these opportunities. Camp allows children to make their own decisions, with the guidance of their counselors. For example, if they need a sweatshirt if it is a colder day or being able to choose their own craft. Being without parents there to help is crucial because it gives children the opportunity to have these experiences which will help them develop into independent adults. 

Lack of Consistency 

Children thrive on routine. Unfortunately, COVID has taken that away in so many ways. Currently, kids do not know when a quarantine may happen or if school will close so they are forced into things being unpredictable. There is a certain level of consistency and routine at camp. Kids know they will be there for a certain number of weeks, what time their meals are, who is in their group and what kind of activities there are. This kind of consistency is good for kids and a way of getting back to a normal routine. Right now, children are in school for very few full five days from 8:30 – 3 pm. Children thrive off structure so when they only have three hours a day of school, it leads to lots of free time for Tik-Tok or Instagram. Acamp day reminds children of how to follow a schedule.