I was in REI today looking at ice axes when I noticed info on Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors which conducts programs that get inner city kids out into nature.
There are a few reasons that I believe in these kinds of programs and the people behind them. First, when I hear adults complain about feeling “trapped,” my sympathy is slim. What I remember most about being an adolescent is the rage I felt at being trapped in school, trapped in a suburb, trapped listening to boring, lazy, screwed-up adults telling me how things were gonna be. Kids have it rough because they’re stuck in the world that grownups construct. For this reason, I think that it’s important for them to have contact with nature. They need to see that there are more powerful and compelling forces in the world than their parents, their teachers, their school, their government, or their television. They need to see that there are alternatives to the bullshit that we push on them.
Second, most people who feel a connection to the natural world have had the privilege of exposure. That exposure, however, is more frequently awarded to kids growing up in Boulder than kids growing up in South Central. I don’t think that a given kid will necessarily feel a connection to mountains and oceans any more than they might feel a connection to, say, music or art. But I do think that kids equally deserve that exposure, regardless of their zip code.
Finally, I think it’s clear that people who have slept under the stars are more likely to be concerned about air pollution and those who know the way that tree bark feels beneath their fingertips are more likely to fight against deforestation. We’ll do future generations a favor by fostering environmental stewards among the kids who are growing up right now. We do them an even greater favor by making sure that the eco-conscious voices of the future represent a broad range of ideas, concerns, and perspectives (i.e. not just the ideas, concerns, and perspectives coming out of Boulder).
So…tis’ the season to give crap to people who already have lots of crap. Or you could give an experience to kids that you don’t even know.
I love this! I hadn’t heard of it, and as I was an outdoor educator, I can vouch first-hand for the importance of city kids getting out there. Hiking/camping shouldn’t just be for middle-class and wealthy folks, and it’s sad that’s the image it has.
12/06/06 » 12:10 am »
what is your beef with Boulder anyway? There are many highly educated, concerned and active people who do give a damn here …ie.. many groundbreaking programs like Bioneers, many organically minded companies, and university programs pushing investigative science-breakthrough physics-and environmental technology so that these type of life changing products can reach the rest of the world, where ever they live. Its a lame comment on a place you don’t participate in.
12/07/06 » 11:43 am »
Kathryn, all Brianne was saying was that kids growing up in Boulder have a lot more opportunities to get out there, not that there’s something wrong with people in Boulder and that they don’t give enough. She was just saying that a kid in Boulder has more of a chance to get into the great outdoors because it’s part of the culture, than a kid in South Central, who’s trapped in the city has. We should all work harder to get inner city kids out in the woods, wherever we are. I think Boulder is a great city and has done some really amazing things, especially in the area of smart growth. The way I read it, nobody was hating on Boulder!
12/07/06 » 4:20 pm »