Tag Technology

Teens panic as they’re forced to unplug at camp

May 14, 2009 5:26 PM

By MEGAN K. SCOTT, AP NEW YORK
Tim Chai keeps in touch with friends through Facebook, listens to music on his iPod and never goes anywhere without his BlackBerry.

So when the 17-year-old was looking for a summer camp, he ruled out a church camp with a no cell phone, no computer policy.

“I just thought it was too much for me to handle,” said Tim, of Carmel, Ind. “I love my Internet. I love my phone. I’m not ashamed to say it.”

For a generation used to texting, Facebook and YouTube, going away to sleepaway camp can be a bit unnerving. Many outdoor camps don’t allow cell phones, laptops or iPods, and there is no computer lab for them to update their pages.

Many campers are “a little panicked” to part with their cell phones, said Tony Sparber, founder of New Image Camps, with locations in Florida and Pennsylvania. Some try to smuggle them in or bring more than one phone in case one is confiscated, he said.

Even parents who are used to having constant access to their kids can experience anxiety.

Kimberley Fink, 40, of Weston, Mass., is a little nervous about her 14-year-old daughter who is going away to camp for the first time. The camp lasts for two weeks and her daughter won’t be able to call.

“It makes me slightly uneasy,” said Fink. “I will probably be one of the mothers who calls the camp office after a couple of days to check in. Sometimes you just need that reassurance.”

Dave Steinberg, owner and director of Canteen Roads Teen Travel Camp out of Huntington, N.Y., said most parents ask about the no-cell-phone policy out of concern for their children’s safety.

To reassure them, he gives them his cell phone number and campers a prepaid calling card. He also uploads photos to a password protected site that the parents can access.

Experts agree that unplugging is a great idea. But it will be a “shock to the system” for those who are digitally dependent, says Anastasia Goodstein, author of “Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online.”

Some like Chai may be reluctant to go to a camp for that reason, said Gary Rudman of GTR Consulting, author of the upcoming 2009 gTrend Report, which focuses on teens and technology.

Sean Hakim, 16, struggled to give up his gadgets for two weeks when he went to Antiochian Village Camp in Pennsylvania. The camp does not allow cells or iPods and campers have no computer access.

“At first, it was scary,” admits Sean, of River Vale, N.J. But he said, “once you get there, you realize you don’t really need it. You are always with people, doing something.”

Plugged in teens are under tremendous pressure to maintain “Brand Me” on Facebook and other social networking sites, said Rudman. Without a cell phone or online access, it’s like they are invisible.

And while teens will inevitably make friends at camp, 10 friends in your bunk is not the same as hundreds on Facebook, he said.

“The dilemma for camps is that if they do allow technology, the kids will likely plug in and tune out,” said Rudman, adding that being off the grid may be the best thing for chill-challenged teens. “That would defeat the purpose of camp.”

When camp starts, plugged-in children may feel a little disoriented, like a part of them is missing, said Dr. Michael Assel, associate professor of pediatric psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Those feelings should subside as children get involved in camp activities, he said.

Campers say that’s what usually happens. They forget about their lost social connections much like they forget about television.

“They keep you so busy, you are having so much fun, I forget about the computer. I forget about Facebook,” said Max Truen, 15, of Dix Hills, N.Y., who goes to New Image Camp’s Camp Pocono Trails each summer.

So what happens when camp is over? Do teens give up texting? Or Facebook?

Not a chance. They have more friends.

Brawl in aisle 9? Not this holiday season

By Allison Linn

Senior writer

msnbc.com

updated 4:39 p.m. PT, Sun., Nov. 23, 2008

Add another item to the long list of woes already facing retailers: the dearth of must-have items expected to fly off the shelves this holiday season.

As the traditional holiday shopping season kicks off, there are no stand-out toys or electronic gadgets that are expected to spark the frenzy seen in years past, when late-night lines snaked through the streets and parents came to blows trying to get that much-coveted gift for their kids.

“The lack of a hot toy is one of the reasons we’re going to have one of the worst Christmases in 30 years,” said C. Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group and co-author of “The Customer Rules.” “There’s no reason for parents to kill themselves to go out and buy that hot item.”

Of course, it’s far from the only reason analysts expect an especially tough holiday season, as retailers battle the gloom of a deep downturn in the economy and financial markets. The International Council of Shopping Centers is predicting that sales in the crucial November-December season will rise a paltry 1.7 percent over last year.

A season without a must-have item is just adding insult to injury.

“The big challenge this year is to get people in the stores, because there isn’t really that one must-have product that gets people all excited,” said Stephen Baker, a consumer electronics analyst with NPD Group.

With toys, Beemer said the buzz of a must-have item can boost overall sales for several reasons. For one thing, parents seeking a hard-to-find gift may just go shopping more because they are hunting for that item, perhaps picking up more items along the way. For another, parents who didn’t get that item sometimes end up spending more on other gifts for their children to compensate.

In years past, holiday shopping manias have been sparked by toys including Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids, as well as by video game consoles including the Xbox and PlayStation 3. Retailers have sometimes been able to spark a run on the shelves by offering extreme bargains on items such as DVD players, elevating them to the same kind of “must-have” status.

Others downplay the importance of a must-have item. While such a cultural phenomenon can generate buzz, longtime toy analyst Chris Byrne said the most important thing for retailers is that they are able to accurately predict what will sell, so they aren’t left with either empty shelves or a glut of merchandise at the end of the season.

Byrne, who is content director for timetoplaymag.com, is expecting overall toy sales to be flat this year. But he still thinks certain toys will be in high demand and may even become scarce. Those include the Bakugan game products and Elmo Live, the latest iteration of the interactive Sesame Street character doll.

“There isn’t one must-have toy that everybody’s talking about that’s leading the news, but there are ones that have people already out there trying to scour the stores,” he said.

Byrne notes that the Bakugan action figure and game series may prove especially popular because there are plenty of low-priced components for budget-conscious consumers.

But some of the other toys making many “hot” lists this year will be too costly to reach “must-have” status this year. Elmo Live is selling for around $60, while last year’s Elmo toy retailed for just $40. Biscuit My Lovin’ Pup, an interactive dog toy, sells for about $150.

“These higher price points are totally unreasonable for this economy,” Beemer said.

Many of this year’s highly promoted items are just new versions of toys or gadgets people are already familiar with, such as the Elmo doll, the iPhone or game consoles such as the Wii.

Still, Baker, the consumer electronics analyst, thinks there can be advantages to a retail environment without a must-have item. A single hot item “helps a very specific piece of the market, but it’s not always a rising tide lifting all boats,” he said. “You get a very lopsided opportunity.”

But this year, that may be cold comfort. Even before the financial crisis hit in September, Baker said a weak holiday season already was expected for the technology industry. That’s because many people already have a house full of gadgets — such as music players and digital cameras — and don’t see the newest offerings as cheap enough, or enough of an improvement, to justify an upgrade.

“The growth in technology is starting to slow down,” he said.

Still, Baker said there may be some pockets of strength this holiday season. He’s expecting some shoppers to focus on purchases that can be shared by the whole family, such as large-screen televisions, notebook computers and video game consoles.

Gary Rudman, president of GTR Consulting, which tracks the habits of teens and young adults, is expecting more people to give as gifts the type of “necessity” gadgets that they might, in a stronger economy, have bought without needing a special occasion. That means a GPS system, updated laptop computer or replacement cell phone might end up under the tree this year.

He expects teens to ask for new technology gadgets this holiday season, but he isn’t seeing a trend toward one particular piece of hardware.

“There’s definitely a desire to still get those pieces of technology that they always covet — the sort of iPhones of the world — (but) there doesn’t seem to be that one ‘it’ item this year,” Rudman said.

Economics aside, Byrne said there may be other advantages to not having a must-have item dominating news coverage as we head toward the holidays, especially given the more pressing issues on many peoples’ minds.

“It’s kind of a relief that we’re talking about, ‘Is Hillary going to be secretary of state?’ rather than, ‘Where can I get an Elmo?’” he quipped last week.

The Five Drivers Of Teen Buying Behavior: What Marketers Need To Know (Part II)

The remaining three drivers:

3. The message needs to be simple and clear. Teens are accustomed to ease. In their world of technology, everything is at the touch of a button. Marketers need a similar approach. If a marketing message forces a teen to work too hard, or if the pitch isn’t readily digestible, it will fall flat. That’s not to say it must be boring. Rather, it has to be straightforward – and wrapped in an interesting, engaging package. Otherwise, teens will tune out and won’t see the messages being aimed at them.

4. Technology is everything. Other products – jeans, skateboards, skis – are all interesting, but they don’t dazzle and truly excite. Because technology is the focal point of teen existence today – technology is what generates heat. With technology embedded, ordinary items can be magically transformed from also-rans to must-haves.

5. Portability is king for these Technomads. The iPhone is a runaway hit among teens because it is the perfect digital jackknife – phone, texting, music, videos, camera, and web. It’s everything the modern teen needs, with the added bonus of coming in a fashionable, mobile package. Apple’s brilliance is that it squeezed the entire living room experience into the palm of a hand.