semiprotection
As children, both my brother & I were quite outdoor-centric. Sandboxes, be they constructed or improvised from dirt piles, were a common meeting ground where we would design small villages and roadways. Adventuring through the forests around the house or spending time at the grandparents’ cabin was done without the slightest consideration to sweat and the temporary discomfort of excess humidity. Though I can’t recall whether we were directly encouraged to spend time outside, it happened that we both spent a great amount of our childhood making our own trails and doing our best to find the way home. Video games never prevailed unless the winter weather suppressed outdoor possibilities.
Camping and fishing were less common but I do remember a significant amount of overt encouragement to engage in those activities. As a kid, fire and the preparation of our own food around said fire was an exciting concept particularly because it thrust an otherwise unusual amount of responsibility on our shoulders for safety. If I wanted to play around with a blazing marshmallow on a poker, I was welcome to; but if I kindled a forest fire from the lively revelry, not only would I receive a slap on the wrist from the state but my own health would be put at risk.
As I’ve aged, the outdoor appeal has been modified. Most of the time spent outdoors is for exercise or transportation; occasionally, I’ll walk around town with a camera and a quick eye, but there are scarce other reasons I trek outside to pass the time. The enjoyment of camping and fishing has vanished, replaced by the luxurious 300+ spring mattress under my covers and my vegetarian beliefs in regards to animal cruelty.
Last year at TED, Gever Tulley spoke about how kids are best raised when brought up in environments where they are exposed to danger. It develops responsibility, an intuitive spirit, and is quite possibly the best example of character-building out there. The video is good enough to go ahead and embed here. Please watch.
Ignoring the insignificant and random scars I have on my body from overly joyous, childhood adventuring, I am very thankful to have been raised with a long leash. I’m a firm believer that mistakes made are lessons learned. If mice are able to recover from their mistakes in a controlled lab experiment so that they eventually reach their rewarded cheese, humans are certainly clever enough to make grand intuitive leaps towards wiser choices and greater situational comprehension.
Hatchet is (or at least was) a very common elementary/middle school required read. I’m pretty sure that the majority of kids raised today would have no clue how to survive in the wild, even with the aid of a hatchet. For that matter, let’s see how many Americans, of all ages, are capable of surviving “in the wild”. It would be a fast way to eliminate the moochers of our society, possibly even lowering prices due to the supply-demand connection.
Alright, enough fantasizing of this strange cultural purification. Just nonsense - I should get back to watching the encouraging results of presidential primaries.
Speaking of nonsense, this is post 1001. Hot dog.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Congratulations on turning 1001!
Its amazing your site doesn’t look a day over 30