Emails From Summer Campers
By Gene Koprowski, United Press International
In the past, when a parent sent a child off to summer camp in June, it usually took most of the season before that child sent a card or letter back home. The Internet is providing a solution to that common lament of parents, experts told UPI's The Web.
Children heading to summer camp now pack along their laptops or, more commonly, PDAs, and are increasingly communicating with their folks, sending updates, sometimes daily, via e-mail or text messaging.
Some kids still write by hand, but because of the Internet, even those messages home are now delivered electronically.
"Campers write their note on stationary and hand it to the camp counselor," explained Ari Ackerman, chief executive officer of Bunk1.com, an Internet firm that serves campers and their families. "The camp then faxes the letters to a toll-free number. Each child's stationary has a customized bar code in it, with the parent's encrypted e-mail in it. We send out the e-mails with the letters every day."
Ackerman said his idea -- conceived while he was an MBA student at Northwestern University in the late 1990s -- preserves the "magic" of the summer-camp experience for children, yet relieves the anxiety of parents, who for the first time may be separated for weeks from their offspring. The service is now about five years old and has 100 summer camps involved.
"That's a pretty cool service," said Kim Komando, one of America's leading computer experts, host of a weekly syndicated radio show and a technology columnist for USA Today. "Technology is bringing kids and parents together. It's a phenomenal thing to see across the miles."
According to the American Camping Association, summer camp is a $19.8 billion industry, with 34 million campers, parents and counselors.
Many camps offer their own e-mail service to campers. They charge the parents upwards of a $1 per message for the privilege of communicating daily, while still allowing the kids to experience nature.
"My daughter's away at Camp Pontiac in Copake, N.Y., for the first time," said Stacey Udell, a marketing professional in New York City. "I have so many questions about day-to-day things. When I e-mail her, there's always, 'Mom's Top 10' -- 10 to 20 questions that I send. When she gets my correspondence, she writes her answers directly on the printout and pops it back in the snail mail to me."
Udell said the service enables her to see what it is like for her daughter to experience the camp.
"Since my daughter would never come forward with all the details of camp life, my questions prompt valuable information which puts my mind at ease," she said.
The camp also sends daily photos via the Internet to parents using its "e-camp" service, she added.
Komando, who lives in Phoenix, said it is likely the summer camps soon will be sending video e-mails of the campers to parents, now that the price of a mid-range Web cam has dropped to about $100.
"There are systems available for Mac and Windows, and many ISPs offer free v-mail," she said. "People are using this technology to broadcast weddings over the Web, or send videos of newborn babies to troop tents in Iraq."
The idea of having a camp counselor or an adult intervene -- and not permitting young children direct access to the Internet while away from their parents -- is good Internet safety, experts told The Web.
More than 30 million children currently cruise the Web, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. During the summer, the amount of time kids spend online doubles, according to a survey by Lenhart, Rainie & Lewis, published in 2004, called Teenage Life Online.
The Internet Keep Safe Coalition -- a non-profit group made up of the first spouses of 48 states, first lady Laura Bush and corporate and scientific sponsors -- advises that children should be circumscribed, in general, when using the Internet.
"Keep your personal information protected. Never give your name, address or phone number, the name of your school, or a picture of yourself to anyone online," said Marsali Hancock, executive director of the coalition, in Arlington, Va.
"Don't meet in person anyone you've met on the Net -- tell a parent, teacher, or trusted adult if you feel uncomfortable about anything you see on the Internet," said Hancock, whose group is located at ikeepsafe.org.
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