John Naisbitt, author of the book High Tech, High Touch, once said “At best, technology supports and improves human life; at its worst, it alienates, isolates, distorts and destroys.As I continue to observe my own and other individual’s behaviors around digital devices, I wonder how best to balance my digital usage without becoming disconnected from those around me.
As an example, last Sunday, my family and a small group of friends (ages 16-59) trouped to the Northeast Kingdom in respective Subaru’s to pay homage to Bread and Puppet Theatre’s performance, now celebrating its 50th year. We were feeling nostalgic and we wanted to pass this experience on to our younger offspring.True to form, Bread and Puppet did not disappoint.We were introduced to old buses covered in psychedelic paint, life-size puppets, women in red dresses on stilts riding zebras, a smattering of politically charged metaphorical messages, bread and the rising of Mother Earth.
Following the finale, we headed for some much desired food at the Busy Bee restaurant in the heart of Glover.
There while chatting about the performance and a host of other topics, we each placed our IPhones and Androids on the table in front of us proceeding to respond to text messages, emails and Facebook feeds as they popped up on our screens.
I found our behaviors remarkably humorous and somewhat sad.How I wondered have we gotten to the place where such behaviors are the new norm?While we were physically present, we were also distracted as we carried on multiple off-site conversations.
On the way home, with the New York Times in tow, I was drawn to the Styles section photo of adults step dancing on a straw-covered surface with the caption — Coming Clean at Camp — in the woods tech-addled adults can break the bonds of the digital world, at least temporarily and return to the glories of color wars and real (not Facebook) friends.As I scanned the article I learned about Camp Grounded, a camp geared for adults who find themselves technologically addicted either by choice or by occupational demands.Housed on the premises of a former Boy Scout camp, Camp Grounded requires all campers go technologically cold turkey upon arrival –no phones, computers, tablets or watches as a means to encourage and build face to face connections.Campers are invited to share with each other through activities such as face paintings, sing-alongs, star gazing and breathing workshops.Camp alumni stated the camp felt like a place you could be yourself, provided an excuse to put away the phone and not respond to anybody and created an opportunity to be reintroduced to silence.
Again I found this article humorous and somewhat sad.Are we now at a crossroads where we might need to enroll in summer camp to tighten the boundaries around our use of cell phones, tablets, computers so we can form stronger bonds with each other? I briefly returned to the image of our group at the Busy Bee determining we could all benefit from some Camp Grounded time. In fact, perhaps a majority of adults could benefit and Camp Grounded franchises will shortly be springing up throughout the country.
Of course, once campers return to their former environments it will be up to them to sustain a healthy balance between being digitally connected without becoming socially isolated.Who would have imagined a few years ago that we might now be challenged by how to best use electronic communication devices and at the same time maintain positive relationships with our neighbors,friends and family members?