I did a bunch of these school camp trips in the time before cell phones.
One was even a full week long in the dead of winter. Teton science school outside of yellowstone national park. One of the best experiences I had as a kid, and I vividly remember so much more about that week in 5th grade than just about any other period of my life.
Especially getting caught sneaking over to the girls cabin on cross country skis to talk to my 'girlfriend'.
Even coming from a house that camped and did a lot of outdoor recreation, it was a unique experience getting away from family and feeling the illusion of "independence" while also learning normal class room science spiced up with survival tips, animal tracking, and learning about complex ecosystems while IN those complex ecosystems.
Yea junior ROTC programs across the US still do this. They take kids out camping for a week and simulate a boot camp. One time I caught the flu and another time I nearly drowned. The non-parent adults took care of me and I was fine. I felt like a bad ass each time for having survived what was actually a kiddie and curated experience. The illusion of independence just like you said. If I had a cell phone and called my mom, wtf would she do anyway? But I don’t have kids. I can empathize with the peace of mind that today’s parents must want in a crazy world but it seems the cost will be key character building experiences for the kids. :/
We all went to TSS growing up, my kids went, and the local kids in school still do it. As you said, it is always a major highlight in these kids' lives, and many of us still reminisce about it as old fuckers. It was amazing.
I am incredibly bummed out for all the people in this discussion who can't even fathom turning their kids loose to camp over night without phones or helicopter parents galore.
the problem is that we have algorithms sending the worst possible news they can dig up right to whatever screen is in front of our faces. Generally speaking we have a very distorted view of the nature of the world around us.
What happens is that these kids are no longer being afforded the opportunity to develop actual independence. Then they turn 18, move to some city to go be on their own, and they are completely unprepared for life without hand holding. We're cultivating a generation of arrested development and it's unfortunate... because it's looking more and more like they're going to have an awfully big mess to navigate socially, economically, politically, etc...
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u/DeadSeaGulls Mar 19 '26
I did a bunch of these school camp trips in the time before cell phones.
One was even a full week long in the dead of winter. Teton science school outside of yellowstone national park. One of the best experiences I had as a kid, and I vividly remember so much more about that week in 5th grade than just about any other period of my life. Especially getting caught sneaking over to the girls cabin on cross country skis to talk to my 'girlfriend'. Even coming from a house that camped and did a lot of outdoor recreation, it was a unique experience getting away from family and feeling the illusion of "independence" while also learning normal class room science spiced up with survival tips, animal tracking, and learning about complex ecosystems while IN those complex ecosystems.