Some of my most memorable moments of my childhood and young adult life happened when I was away from the day-to-day happenings. Specifically, when I was a camper and counselor at camp where I was taken away from the world that I knew and was placed into a temporary ecosystem of bad food, no communication with the outside world (cell phones and the internet weren’t in your pockets back then), and a new social environment with summer-only friends. These absences from real life provided moments of clarity (especially in my young adult life) where I was able to contemplate my life’s goals free of distraction.

Are the youth of the next generation going to have this opportunity? How can they escape from the world and contemplate life with cell phones and web-enabled phones so prevalent? It goes beyond the youth. When was the last time you didn’t use the internet for more than 48 hours? It’s getting harder and harder to isolate yourself. As an adult, I can turn off my phone on vacation to spend quality time with my family. As a youth, however, I never would have shut myself out voluntarily.

This is just one example of how the new digital age is going to change the way we live. Our children will never be away at camp disconnected from the world where they can be a part of simpler, slower lifestyle. I’ll miss getting disconnected from the world. Only when I’m disconnected do I realize how connected I really am.