Growing up in Pennsylvania on the edge of a wildlife preserve, I spent my childhood in the creek, building forts and swinging from vines. I always imagined the same for my children. Instead, my kids have lived in urban metropolises their entire lives. Suggesting to my son that he go outside and build a fort, he pointed to the tiny, well-manicured backyard and said, "Mum, do you see any sticks out there? There are no sticks!" Sadly, he was right.
Bill Plotkin, in his book Nature and the Human Soul, describes the stages of human ego development and explains that connecting with nature is an essential experience in transitioning from adolescence into adulthood. "Imagination might very well be the single most important faculty to cultivate in adolescence. Without this cultivation, true adulthood might never be reached," he says.
Getting kids out into nature is essential, but often a challenge in urban environments such as Hong Kong. In some cases, children are so immersed in technology and indoor activities that they can't even imagine going out in nature.
Adolescent children must be able to imaginethe world beyond their own situation and survival stories are a great way to introduce this concept. In most of these stories, fear and feelings of inadequacy are slowly replaced with competence, self-awareness and success.
Jean Craighead George is a prolific author of young adult fiction survival stories. Her 1959 classic, My Side of the Mountain, tells the story of Sam Gribley, a 15-year-old boy who leaves his home in New York to live on his own for a year in the Catskill mountains. The book is filled with realistic details about how and what food he foraged and caught, the intricate shelter he constructed, his protection, entertainment and emotions.