During the recent week-long summer camp around digital detox at Kaaya Learning Centre, we witnessed an amazing phenomenon among the 17 young teenagers who participated. They all made new friends! This was evident from their feedback, where almost everyone mentioned how they enjoyed bonding with other campers.
These students came from different schools and cities, and many of them did not know each other before the camp. Their parents dropped them off to Kaaya in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
For six days, the group engaged in various activities that ranged from adventure & life skills to exploring village life, undertaking short journeys, and doing arts and crafts etc.
While these activities were fun and enriching for the children, what really stood out was the unique process of friendship building that happened during their time together.
Perhaps, in the spaces between one activity and another, a parallel process of forming connections and discovering themselves was also taking place. The very setting of Kaaya allows such relations to manifest with its earthly, natural and informal setting and unassuming local community as host.
We did found that without any baggage of the past or expectations of the future, these children were intensely re-negotiating their identities while relating with one another.
This was very different from our previous experience with hosting school camps. In those camps, the existing class dynamics and hierarchies were carried over to the outdoor setting as well. The positions of children, their friendships, and norms of interaction among each other remained unchanged, even while they all were undergoing individual transformations through the outdoor activities.
Such camps at Kaaya offer a space or a clean slate to the kids. Free from their past roles and labels, the children use the activities as well as the free time to communicate freely and explore friendships with each other.
The outcome of this summer camp program should also interest parents, as it shows that participating in such a camp is more than just sending their kids to digitally detox, have fun and adventure. It is also an opportunity for them to develop social skills, emotional intelligence and self-confidence that will help them in their personal and academic lives.
