That Zero-Technology Philosophy We Love to Love

Kabeyun has maintained an “electronics-free” environment for as long as anyone can remember, since before these tools and toys became an integral part of our non-camp lives. Cell phones, laptop computers, gameboys, ipods… a summer at Kabeyun is a vacation from those things, and I think we can all agree that the experiences we have are enhanced by their absence.

As a camper, I brought my own point-and-shoot film camera to camp, and when I got home at the end of the summer, I had my few rolls of film developed, and still have those prints… somewhere. In the past few years, a growing number of our campers have brought digital cameras to camp, and not only shoots hundreds or thousands of pictures over the course of the summer, but record various activities using the video capability that just about all cameras now come equipped with.

I am concerned with the way this is changing the way our campers approach their activities. In some cases, it seems that the focus has shifted from learning new skills to recording and watching themselves on the tiny screens that are so conveniently available on the backside of each camera. Last year, for the first time, the new and exciting GoPro cameras allowed kids to strap a high-definition video camera to their chest or head and get a first-person perspective of everything they were doing. It was not at all uncommon to see groups of campers gathering to watch replays of one anothers’ exploits, and those scenes were strikingly reminiscent of my recollection of faces glued to a computer screen in the photo shack.

The Kabeyun experience challenges us to exist “in the moment.” Forget about what we look like, whether we might appear silly, awkward, or clumsy, and try something new and challenging. Don’t worry about failing or feeling foolish, just keep trying and get better. Step outside of our comfort zone and do something that might seem scary, that we might think we can’t possibly do. We can do those things at Kabeyun because it’s such a safe environment – we are comfortable knowing that the other campers and the counselors are there to support us, not criticize or make fun of us.

That our risks and our failures, in addition to our successes, will be recorded and shared indiscriminately online changes the nature of that environment, potentially not for the better. Yes, it’s awesome to have a picture or a video to commemorate an achievement or to spark a warm memory, but the memory itself can oftentimes be just as, if not more profound when it’s in our mind alone.

So, with all of that said, our decision this year is to add digital cameras and video cameras to our list of electronics that campers should leave at home and not bring to camp.

This year, for the first time, we’ll have a camp photographer whose primary focus will be to take pictures all over camp, striving to capture as much of the summer as possible, and as many shots of every camper as he can. Jeff Kuebler, who has run our waterfront so capably for so many years, has agreed to take this on, and he’ll do a meticulous, thorough, and excellent job. We’ll also be adding a digital camera to every first-aid kit that goes with out-of-camp trips, to photograph those moments that Jeff cannot. At the end of the summer, as we did this past year, we’ll upload every photo (and likely more than a few videos) taken on these camp cameras to SmugMug, where you’ll be able to download any or all of them in high resolution, so you can print them, enlarge them, share them, or save them to your computer at home.

This has been an ongoing conversation amongst the staff for several years, and we’ve debated the various benefits and drawbacks at great length. In truth, there are many other reasons why digital cameras aren’t a great fit at Kabeyun – for starters, there are significant privacy concerns. Ultimately, though, I keep returning to what a great value it is to spend a summer independent of digital media, and as the tools and toys evolve, so too must our policies and philosophies.