Everyone wants kids to get outside, that’s a common complaint among parents, educators, people involved in conservation efforts, really anyone involved in the outdoors in any capacity. Everyone wants young people to go outside. The problem is that most of the people in question are not really sure how to actually engage these kids, there’s a constant refrain telling kids to turn off their screens, unplug and enjoy nature, and that’s not going to get the job done.
Let’s admit that we have a generation that wants to be connected to everything, all the time. Not everyone likes this, or understands this, but this is reality. People running around with phones at the ready at all times aren’t going to be that encouraged by people who want them to go in the complete opposite direction. To insist on getting these youth to give up their technology is simply an older generation being unwilling to admit that their descendents have different priorities. The simple joy of exploring the outdoors isn’t going to translate, and people will outright reject the magical childhood the older generation is trying to push down to their uninterested children.
Which is not to say that kids shouldn’t be outside more, because they should. That’s not to say that nature isn’t something that needs to be appreciated and understood by the next generation, because it is. What I am saying is that you have to abandon any idea of pure, simple communing with the great outdoors, instead you have to actually put in an effort to connect technology and the environment. It’s counter-intuitive for a lot of people, because there’s a school of thought that suggests nature and technology must never meet, but if they do you have a better chance of getting people out and enjoying it.
If you have a generation that wants to document everything they do, they can photograph hiking trails, they can take pictures of lakes and fish, they can take photos of birds, animals, plants and any other amazing thing they see. Share them with friends, those friends want to take their own pictures and you get kids out there. It’s not the same way their parents might view nature, but it’s communicating on the same level as the people you’re trying to embrace. Selfies on a mountain might make people above a certain age cringe, but remember, the kids are on a mountain, and they’re getting their friends into going on that same mountain.
Eventually, as you go further out, the phone service fades out and you can’t share everything immediately. That’s how we get kids to turn the phone off, but don’t make it a rule. Just ease them further and further into the outdoors instead of forcing the issue. Going cold turkey with the phone is never, ever going to work with these kids, because they like their phone, and everyone trying to force the kids to conform to their ideas of how to enjoy life is just going to make them reject those ideas.
The best way to get kids to enjoy nature is to just get them out there, but get them out there with their tech in hand. Get them to show their friends what the outdoors have to offer with various pictures of what they see, and instead of forcing them to turn off the phone, just let nature, poor cell reception and nonexistent battery chargers do the work for you.
