Experiments With a Tech-Free Summer Camp

Every summer, parents in the nation’s cities and suburbs send their kids off to camp with the hopes that they’ll connect with nature, do some canoeing and hiking, sit around a few campfires and enjoy some time in crowded cabins.
But with the rise of the Internet, social media, portable devices and modern video games, is it possible for kids to even have this sort of woodsy experience anymore? Should we even be trying to force it on our kids?
A summer camp in rural Pennsylvania decided not to fight the draw of devices. They let all campers use any technology they want–but first the kids had to give up their technology for a period time.
Manoush Zomorodi has been following the progress of this camp–Longacre Leadership Camp in Newport, PA. She joins us to report on how the experiment worked–or didn’t. Zomorodi is the host of WNYC’s New Tech City.