I am one of those people who is simultaneously addicted to my phone, but also loves to declare that I hate my phone and will be deleting all social media. (Spoiler Alert: I never do.)
Well, maybe not hate. Hate is a strong word. I literally have a degree in Digital Media. I am far from off the grid. But, recently, when I have a free quiet moment, I’ve found myself purposefully choosing to engage in non-digital activities like reading, or singing, or my recent new hobby; crochet.
I am making these conscious decisions to disengage from my phone because our dependency on the digital world, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, really scares me.
And, I know what you’re probably thinking right now; “oh god, here comes yet another piece of writing about how we’re all doomed and robots are going to eat us, or whatever”. I promise you, it’s not. I am young and hopeful! Just stay with me here.
I was born in 2003, which is the same year that MySpace was launched, and a year before Facebook was launched. So, by a lot of definitions, the age of social media and digital profiles started around the same time I was born.
However, in comparison to kids in elementary school and high school nowadays, my generation had a lot less access to social media and the web. A better way of explaining this may be that the use of phones and social media to my generation between the ages of 6 and 13 was much less normalized and beyond things like Siri and Alexa, we absolutely did not have the same level of access to Artificial Intelligence and the digital world as kids nowadays do.
And, that’s the thing that’s scaring me. I feel like this general increase in reliance on phones, AI, and social media is both bad for our brains and mental health, but will also, or has already started to, negatively impact young people.
This fear is why I think promoting and supporting educational and recreational activities aimed at helping young people generate tangible, creative results is incredibly important. Maybe now, more than ever.
Camp Broadway MyWay is just one of the many ways that the Broadway Education Alliance works towards bolstering creativity and hands-on artistic learning. Rather than simply learning about musical theater, Camp Broadway MyWay Programming gives kids the opportunity to actively create, perform, collaborate, and make something of their own. The program combines the fundamentals of musical theater and character development with hands-on experiences that encourage kids to take an idea and turn it into something tangible.
And I think that distinction is important. In a world where so much of what we consume is digital and happens on a screen, there is something incredibly valuable about giving young people the chance to put down the tablet, get creative, and actually make something.
To take it one step further, the Camp Broadway MyWay package also offers extension activities, including the tools to DIY a backdrop for your performance, visualize costumes, or practice drawing stage makeup before show day. Scroll to the end of this post to see a Seussical Camp Broadway Edition backdrop painted by a Camp Broadway MyWay community in Bigfork, Montana. In a message to Camp Broadway they said:
“We are lucky to have a teen artist on our staff who outlined the painting of this mural and helped the kids paint it. They were so proud, and it was absolutely beautiful. We hung it on the wall of our center; it was too beautiful not to! We painted it on the back of an old roll of fabric from the thrift store!”
I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I cannot emphasize enough that the most valuable part of being in any sort of theatrical production at a young age, is not the showstopping results. Being part of an ensemble, whether off stage or on, teaches about empathy, teamwork, and how every person brings something unique and important to the table. Now that I think of it, Camp Broadway MyWay is sort of like the livable way for students to learn to utilize my Theater-Kid Toolkit.
Listen, I am a child of the digital age. I am not going to get on my soap-box and write about how everyone should throw their phone out the car window, and live in a log cabin. What I have learned in my 20’s, and what I assume I will continue to learn and understand, is that our ability to be creative and original is being threatened. It is up to people like us, my brilliant cast of characters to continue to create, to forward things, to collaborate, and to take risks.
If you are an educator, program director, or administrator looking to build something collaborative, tangible, and creative, I implore you to look deeper into Camp Broadway My Way. You never know what new forms of creativity can spark in young people.
I will talk to you all next week. In the meantime, go forth, and create!
Jenny
