Are you attempting a digital detox on your summer break?

I am a little jealous of my son's summer. He is going to all these amazing camps with field trips and classes and getting to swim every day. It is exactly what a summer should be (at least for someone with two working parents): Some scheduled activities but a lot of free time to explore.

We got the schedule for the first camp and I was a little surprised to see "Tech Time" listed on the daily agenda. It's only for 30 minutes and it does follow "Reading Time," but it threw me off a bit. I made sure to point it out to my son and explain that the technology time at his camp was limited, and he needed to be sure that he followed the rules set by his counselors. He readily agreed as I think he was more focused on all the field trips they were going on.

When I thought about it later, I figured out that the time on the schedule was probably very wise. By putting a designated time for tech, they could ensure that children knew that they would have a set time and place for devices but that those devices would not be welcome for the rest of the day.

Overall, it is way less screen time then he currently has at school, so I am not complaining.

As we talked about camps the night before his first one started, my son said that some of his friends were planning to just play video games all summer. I reminded him that what children plan and what actually happens over the summer may be very different. After all, a lot of families attempt to do a digital detox over the summer months. He said he thought his camps sounded better than being inside all day.

And I couldn't agree more: I want my son's summers to be memorable for what he does in the real world (zip lines! rafting! new friends!), not for how many levels in a game he beat.

Do you want your family to have less device use over the summer? Tell me about it in the comments.