单选题
Camps have always reflected children's dreams and parents'
fears. In the 1880s, many middle-class families worded that industrial society
had broken off some tie to the frontier. Boys were growing soft: too much time
with their mothers and teachers, not enough manly activity. So the early camps
promised to take weakly boys out into camp life in the woods so that the pursuit
of health could be combined with the practical knowledge. Those
first campers were wilderness tourists; today a wilderness is anyplace without
bandwidth. Allowing cell phone contradicts the point of sleepaway camp: if 19th
century campers were meant to regain lost survival skills, 21st century campers
need to work on their social skill. They are often missing some basic
interactive instruments; fantastically digitally aware, they are less familiar
with the ideas of sharing their space, their stuff or the attention of the
adults around them. For kids who are allowed to text during dinner, who have
their parents whenever they get in trouble or need a ride, a little
self-government is probably long overdue. Most camps require
kids to leave their phones at home, which shows that the resistance often comes
not from the kids but from parents. It's known that parents pack off their
children with two cell phones, so they can hand over one and still be able to
slip away and call. Parents question camp directors about why they can't reach
their kids by phone. Some services let camps post news and pictures to help the
families feel as if they are with the kids at camp. But that just invites
inquiry about why Johnny looks sad or how Jenny's jeans got tom.
Even as they yield in varying degrees to the demands of parents, camps
endeavor to tell us our kids need a break from our eager interest and exhausting
expectations. Camps talk about building independence, argue that having kids
learn to solve their own problems and turn to peers and counselors for support
is a key part of the experience. The implications are clear. They're lighting
campfires, hiding and seeking, doing things that feel wonderfully improper if
just because they involve getting dirtier than usual. Nothing to worry about,
Mom.
单选题
The whole point of camp in the 19th century is to ______.