These days it is nearly impossible to find a child between the ages of 8 and 18 without a cell phone, computer, or some other electronic device that consumes hours of their time. According to the New York Times, children between these ages spend 7.5 hours on average per day in front of a screen. Whether that is surfing the web, texting a friend, or watching TV, we are in an era where technology and instant communication run our lives.

According to USA Today, the more media children use, the less happy they tend to become. Heavy media users are more likely to have bad grades, more likely to be "often sad or unhappy," less likely to get along well with their parents and twice as likely to "get into trouble a lot."

Childrenandnature.com states that there is a significant link between screen time and obesity. All of the time spent at a computer is more time taken away from going outside and doing something active, whether it is a sport or just walking to a friend’s house.

Technology usage has increased an hour and 17 minutes a day in the past 5 years. On top of that, children flip between things so rapidly that the actual amount of media content consumed is around 10 hours. What are people doing to tackle this ongoing obsession? Some parents are implementing restrictions on the number of hours spent on the computer and watching TV. Some experts are telling parents to just accept it, such as Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston. Rich said, “with media use so ubiquitous, it’s time to stop arguing over whether it’s good or bad and accept it as part of children’s environment, like the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.”

Maybe Rich is right, new technology is created every day. Things are changing faster than ever before. At least there are still places like Kingsley Pines that allow kids just to be kids. Camp lets children grow, move, discover, and actually talk to people. Not through a message they read on their cell phones, but actually talk with people physically face to face. After spending three months as a counselor last summer, I know this is something special.