Let's Get Back Outside

In 1978, I was ten years old and I played outside A LOT. From hide and seek in the neighborhood to various types of ball games in the yard, recess at school, creek play, and goofing off in the woods in my grandma’s backyard, to of course CYO Camp. I was outside most of the time. I also watched TV, played pong, Atari, Barbie dolls, board games, and read books inside. When I reminisce about being a kid in the 70’s and 80’s, I fondly remember how it felt being outside and how being outside was just as “normal” as being inside.
 
The woods were my favorite. Being in the woods and among the trees felt peaceful and adventurous all at the same time. Just the other day when I was hiking around the snow-covered trails at camp, I felt the same way. These days, maybe more than others, that outside feeling is stronger probably because it is less frequent. Much like many people I do not go outside like I did when I was a kid or even as much as I did when my own kids were growing up. I am guilty of too many screens too many days. COVID-19 has not helped. My teens, who are in high school, are in the same boat. School and most of their pastimes involve a screen.
 
Articles speaking to the trouble with screens are popping up in several of the sites and blogs I visit regularly and they are proposing intentional time outdoors as an answer. It is so simple, but we are so human and do not always do what is simple or best for us.
 
One blog that I came across proposes that summer camp could be a significant antidote of our times. I don’t disagree. You may already now this about me, but I am a big believer in summer camp. If you would like to read the whole blog, you can check it out here:
 
https://www.acacamps.org/campers-families/parent-blog/summer-camp-our-kids-antidote-pandemic-living
 
This is the part I want to share:
 
“In 2020, 70 percent of camps didn’t open, many due to government restrictions, others by choice. The camps that did open showed great resiliency and creativity in adapting and flourishing within their new parameters, doing it better than most schools. While some families and staff chose to postpone their camp attendance until 2021 — most didn’t want to miss out, even in the midst of a pandemic, despite apprehensions. What were these people, crazy? Absolutely not. They strongly believed that the benefits outweighed the perceived risk. This June, after two compromised school years and everything that’s gone along with it, our children’s need for the benefits of summer camp will be crucially important:

1. REAL HUMAN CONNECTION — Zoom and remote learning have saved us in so many ways. But there’s no substitute for real human connection. Making and strengthening relationships while being guided by loving people is what camp is all about. The essence of camp is in the friendships we forge, something we are all lacking and craving these days.
2. REACQUAINTING OURSELVES WITH NATURE — While society has been trapped indoors for the past year, most of the world is outdoors, and it is amazingly beautiful, and fills our soul with joy. From picture perfect days, to “liquid sunshine” washouts — it’s real living — the way our ancestors lived for thousands of years, until the advent of central air, video screens, and the internet. Our bodies yearn for the outdoors, and that’s where most summer camps happen.
3. RESILIENCY — Our kids are certainly developing it; experiencing disappointments that will make them stronger. Learning to be brave and confronting challenges and fears are also important facets of resiliency. It’s easier to stay at home and stare at screens — but we want our kids to grow up with the kind of courage and “can-do” attitude that our health care, essential workers, and superhero school teachers have learned and cultivated.
4. *MENTAL HEALTH* — While summer camp is widely known for its physical health benefits, according to the CDC, “Children’s mental health during public health emergencies can have both short and long term consequences to their overall health and well-being,” so it’s no surprise that hospital visits related to mental health have risen dramatically for school age children and adolescents. Kids are resilient and can bounce back quickly. But a year and a half of stress and anxiety is bound to leave a mark. Extroverted kids are suffering, missing the energy of their peers. Introverted kids may seem to enjoy sitting in their homes, away from life’s normal pressures — but they need social interaction just as much. 

 
We had a depressed young camper last summer who hadn’t left his apartment nor gotten fully dressed in months. By his third day of camp, his parents thanked us for “returning his childhood to him.” For many kids, camp is a more important social-emotional antidote than the actual vaccine.”
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As you can see, the author, Andy Pritkin, does not just speak to being in nature as the antidote to screens or the pandemic because at summer camp there is so much more. Being in nature is the foundation that we stand on to make everything else, connections, relationships, resiliency, physical and mental health benefits, and learning, happen.
 
Yes, many camps opened last summer and ran summer programs that were successful despite the pandemic and many did not. CYO Camp, as you may know, ran only one week before closing. It was the best decision at the time.
 
Fast forward to 2021. This year will be different. We are planning eight weeks of summer camp for all the reasons lifted in the blog. Summer camp will look a bit different due to COVID-19, but it will still offer kids the same fun, faith filled, adventures it has in the past only now it is COVID-19 safe. Our practices will include mask wearing, sanitizing, distancing, and handwashing. In addition, due to a grant and matching donations, we are updating the camp facilities with touchless paper towel dispensers, anti-microbial counter tops, and more.

Life will likely never return to the time when being outside felt just as “normal” as being inside. Younger generations may never know how it feels to spend more time outside than inside, but I believe we can take steps in that direction. Summer camp is a solid step for children to experience all that outside has to offer. No screens allowed.

Interested in signing up a favorite kid in your life? Dates and fees have been posted at: https://www.campranchoframasa.org/dates-and-fees.html

Registration Opens February 15, 2021!

I can't wait! 

Angi K Sullivan
Co-director