Camp Birch Hill has been a natural haven for youth since the late 1930’s, but now more than ever, kids really need to unplug.
This past summer was my first time spending the entire summer at Birch Hill since the summer after college. I had spent seven long summers away from camp after thirteen consecutive summers where Birch Hill was my home in every way possible. It was more than my home. It literally was my life.
Among the things I missed the most, the lake reigns supreme. The smell of the lake. That is what gets me every time. Once I inhale that balmy breath the memories run rampant: Searching for my best friends lost ring that fell into the sand where the warm, clear water was up to our necks. We took turns taking a big gulp of air and diving underwater to comb our fingers through the sand in hopes of finding the buried treasure. Or diving off the wooden floating dock at dusk, when the water is much warmer than the air. Or silently holding hands on the way up from the waterfront with sandy feet and rosy cheeks. Lyrics float across the flat water.
This is getting somewhat emotional for my first blog post. But so what. I am emotional. Birch Hill evokes emotion. I guess I feel more intensely now than I have ever felt before that lots of people (not just kids!) are becoming emotionally detached, due to the the reality of our tech-obsessed lives. I just read an article in Travel+Leisure that the phrase “digital detox” was added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online in August 2013. Right on! People need to catch the wave, digital detoxes are VITAL in today’s hectic environment.
This is obviously no new topic. You probably remember this article from TIME magazine this past February. TIME’s “The Mindful Revolution” was not the first article to demonstrate the major health benefits that come from slowing down. From unplugging. Like, lowering blood pressure for example. Our fearless leader, Rich Morell, who also doubles as my dad and plays a fatherly role to hundreds of other kids, perhaps said it best. “I want to give kids the opportunity to Just. Be. Kids.” That’s it. That simple. And I think it’s easier to be a kid when you are not staring at a screen, trying to show off what you are doing, in comparison to what other kids are doing, and how cool you are doing what you are doing.
Birch Hill campers embrace messy hair and sweatpants. They laugh. Oh they laugh. They run around chasing each other. They get scared in the darkness of night. They trip on tree roots and sing standing on big rocks. Basically, they get to do a lot of things that they would not otherwise do if they had their iPhone in their lap. You probably know it better than I do. They need this.
I stand strongly behind our policy of not allowing electronics or devices of any kind, and I believe that sending kids into the woods for a few weeks out of the summer can raise awareness in them that they can be comfortable outdoors, without their phones. That they can be creative without google. That they can be engaged without being in signal. I’m proud our campers go home dirty, tired, and happy.
Julie Morell Butler. Yahooing since 1994. MLIBH.
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