Boys in the Wild (Short Film)

Nice job Ryan. While I don't have a son, I do have a teenage daughter and can empathize with the lack of interest by today's youth in outdoor activities because of the "inconvenience" of it all.

I wonder if choosing carefully the way we introduce them to the wilderness experience might be helpful by making the initial experiences as positive as possible and make the wilderness a fun learning experience (Navigation games, wildlife sightings, making fire etc, carry light packs..).

Good job, Ryan!

Regarding your comment of:

"I'm not even sure I have the desire to see 'all teenage boys go into the backcountry.' "

I agree, this isn't for everyone. However you did point out some important factors that influence what kids do today. For most of us here on BPL, we would like our children to participate in our outdoor passions — but you cannot force them to enjoy it. But the factors you point out are often detrimental to raising kids with "character."

Over the years I have seen so many questions posted from parents wondering how to handle their kids, and friends often ask me for input on difficult situations. My answer usually is, "Who is the parent," because the situations involve the need for someone to make a decision, and that is the parents' responsibility. Too many parents allow their children to make the important decisions.

I have two grown children and am extremely proud of how they turned out. Never had a problem with either, and they have always been 'high achievers' in anything they tried. Since I was in my mid to late 30's when they were born, often I was a generation removed from the parents of their friends. So I really saw a difference in how their friends were raised versus my kids. Perhaps I had an advantage of nearly 20 years of life experience as an adult, before they were born. But as parents, their mother and I set the expectations. We refused to deal with the things you pointed out; (culture of entitlement, peer influence, etc.). We set the standards and raised them to gain self-esteem for what they were, not what the rest of world was. For example, there were no video games in the house — they weren't allowed. Television was limited and had parental control — the kids thought is was normal to sit together at night and talk; they also thought it was normal to read a book instead of watching TV.

We took the kids camping starting at age 6 months. This was our vacation every year. And we did not bring things for our own entertainment, we spent everyday together doing family things. Of course, everyone had some personal time everyday, which was usually reading a book.

When they started school, they were required to join an activity during the year. What is was, was up to them — sports, music, clubs, scouts, etc. Joe played sports. Nicole played sports but hated it, and soon got involved with cheer leading and then dance. And every year between September and June most of our time was involved in participating in these activities. We had to give up a lot of our personal wants/needs so we could properly raise our kids. Raising kids was our most important and primary job. And it wasn't always easy.

The other thing we did is set standards of performance for school, activities, and personal conduct. The standards were not some arbitrary goal of all "A's" in school or winning a race or a competition; but that they gave it their best effort. By the time they started junior high they knew right from wrong, and could not be swayed by their peers.

To me the important thing is for parents to be parents. It doesn't matter if the parents hike, or go camping, or enjoy other activities; the important task is to raise kids with character. And I think Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts build character. Both of my kids were in scouts for a short period of time. These troops were in suburban areas and the outdoor activities were nominal. They opted out of scouts because they would rather go camping and hiking with us — even though most of their friends looked down at such family outings.

Fantastic short film. I share the same concerns to what's happening with this generation. The outdoors is good for the soul and provides a richness to life that many other experiences can't match. Hopefully everyone on BPL that has kids tries to pass on some appreciation for the outdoors.

I have 2 kids, ages 13 and 8. They're not always willing, but car camping, short backpacking and kayaking are family activities that I "force" on them so we have some quality time together. I believe that while they may not always appreciate it now, these experiences will help them lead a fuller life where they realize some self reliance and responsibility for themselves. Many other parts of our society seem to be trying the opposite.

I really enjoyed the film and thoughts.

I'm a mom and have a 14 year-old son. I always hear the talk about "kids today" and how they're glued to their TV/cell phones/computers/video games, lazy, entitled, etc., etc. but my actual experience has been the exact opposite and, frankly, I think the problem isn't the kids at all but us adults.

Backcountry trips take a lot of planning and effort from us parents — every meal, gear, itinerary. Not only that, we have to be *with* the kids 24/7 and keep them entertained without the TV, computers, video games… Most parents I know wouldn't have a clue. You only have to look at the popularity of "all-inclusive" resorts and cruises with "kids clubs" and 5-day package trips to Disney to understand that most parents don't want the responsibility of planning every meal, itinerary, activity, much less be engaged with their kids 24/7 for a couple of days straight.

My experience is that kids LOVE this outdoors stuff. Not just kids like my son who's been getting out there with me since he was a toddler but all his friends that we've taken camping, kayaking and hiking with us. Even the out-of-shape fat kids who were stunned when I took their cell phones away. Yeah, they whined a bit at first but, by the end of the weekend, they were ready to come back.

So, imo, if kids aren't getting out there, it's simply because we aren't taking them.

Excellent video!

"Life of ease, protection and entitlement"

Many of us parents say that we want better for our children than what we had at their age. Quite often we mistake "better" as easy or entitled.

Many coaches in athletics stress getting back to basics. What is more basic than walking for transportation, carrying your possessions, putting up a shelter, collecting and treating water to drink, catching, preparing and cooking your dinner while working as a TEAM.

How many teenagers these days actually know where milk or hamburgers come from? How many know where eggs come from and that chicken strips are not an anatomical part of a chicken?

I am not an alarmist but we need to teach our kids how to survive when the lights go out, the microwave doesn't work and the water isn't flowing out of the faucet.

It is our responsibility to teach our children well.

Once again, EXCELLENT VIDEO Ryan!

Party On,

Newton

Thanks for the film, Ryan, and lots of good thoughts from everyone. I distinctly remember the magic of my first backpacking trip (age 14ish???), even after growing up camping frequently and being in a quite "outdoorsy" family. I loved the simplicity of a lot of your shots (especially the sequence of making the food).

I don't know that I agree with the film's premise, though. Backpacking as an activity is relatively new (pretty rare pre 70s), and I don't know that there's ever been a time when the majority of kids couldn't wait to get back into the wilderness. Activities like hunting and fishing have a longer history of getting people into the backcountry, but I don't see any less young people involved in these activities. When I was in middle/high school (90s), I bet there were only a small handful of kids that had ever been on a backpacking trip, and the ones who had the opportunity and didn't take it had the same excuses you list. It was just the lucky/smart ;) ones that took a chance and said yes when someone offered to take them. Many of the ones who say no will go later in life. I guess I'm with the Sumi re: "kids these days" argument. Kids have been wasting time on dumb stuff for a long time.

All that said, good on ya for taking them. It's a pretty profound and formative experience to have…

Great video. I learned my love of the wilderness through Boy Scouts. And though it took a twenty-something year hiatus, it is now again strong as ever. I owe that to the passing of my scout master and the decision made by some of his "boys" to honor his wish to be scattered at his favorite wilderness peak. Even in his death he brought us together and many of us rekindled our love of the natural world.

I beleive that everyone should be given the chance to experience the outdoors and then they can know what its like and if they would like to do it again. How can you know what you may like if you don't try it? Backpacking may be work, but you don't have to pay me to do it.

I appreciate the other comments above. Some good insight and experience.

Excellent job!

I am moved, inspired and encouraged after viewing your video for the third time.

I lead the backpacking program for Troop 4 in Pasadena, CA. With this being our centennial year (yes, 100 years!) and over 100 registered scouts, sadly, there are only a handful of boys that are interested in backpacking. Every statistic you mentioned resonates with what I see in my own son and most of his friends.

The boys (and ASM's) that do show an interest in lightweight backpacking, are helping to spreading the UL gospel. They are learning that experiencing the wilderness in its natural beauty and sometimes fury can be a challenge, but the rewards are immense and they get to actually experience real life instead of the virtual existence viewed on their TVs and video games.

Thank you for all your hard work in putting this project together. I plan on showing Boys in the Wild at next week’s "Backpacking Workshop" for the new scouts and their parents. I am sure it will be as much of an inspiration to them as it is to me.

Thanks again,

jt

Good thoughts Ryan. I especially liked one reason given why kids aren’t into outdoor activities.
“Competition from other activities that might be… more – how shall we say this lightly – beneficial for self esteem? (I find that wilderness is the ultimate smackdown for a teenager's inflated ego!)”
I have totally seen the “ego smackdown,” it can be a very good learning experience. Its only bad if its so severe that the kid swears off backpacking.

The teens I meet live in an artificial world. They base their identity on how they look to their peers at school and normally hide their true self. Putting them in the wilderness creates a "real world" environment where they are judged on their contributions to the greater good rather then their appearance.

This “ego smackdown” was what made a Wilderness Therapy program work for us. Our program was unique in the area because we had no “point system” where kids earned privileges or punishments. We didn’t need one; if the boys acted foolishly they got smacked by reality. Our boys quickly learned that acting cool and “gangsta” didn’t do much good in the woods. No one cared about those things. They cared about whether you could help on a real world project like chopping firewood or packing a canoe.

I even noticed this at residential summer camp. Kids would act more "real" because they knew they were being judged (and more importantly valued) for who they really were not just what they looked like. A remember a couple of teenage girls telling me camp was the place they felt most at home.

I think Dallas put it best with his final quip, "Every generation fears the next one will be a failure. I imagine we'll be proven wrong as well."

I think one could make most of these same arguments about many other things in kids' lives today: kids don't play enough sports, they don't read enough, they don't play "pretend" games anymore. And yet, you could blame each of these things for a lack of time spent in the others.

This reminds me of an interview that Penn Jillette gave a while back. It's a little tangential, but it's about the idea that video games aren't a lesser way of spending one's time.

It's the last two paragraphs on the first page:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/11/20/penn-jillette-is-tired-of-the-video-game-bulls.aspx

Excellent message and video! I can't wait to show it to my 12 year old only if I could get him off his computer.

FWIW, my daughter became very enthusiastic about backpacking immediately after I pointed out that, after getting a bit of kit & experience, it was the perfect way for her and her teen friends to escape the purview of adults.