Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
PARENTS are doing their children a disservice by not exposing them to risk, according to television adventurer Bear Grylls.
Bear, who takes 13 men out to a desert island to fend for themselves in his new Channel 4 show, said that it was part of being a dad to teach his three sons how to make a catapult, tie a knot and improvise a kite.
His boys, he says, set up search and rescue scenarios at home.
The Chief Scout is pushing for the school curriculum to be overhauled, with survival skills such as lighting a fire and tying a knot at the fore.
Bear added: “If you try to negate risk in children’s lives, you do them a disservice, because you teach them not to be afraid of risk.
“There is risk everywhere, even when you go out on the street. So if you teach kids to dodge risk, you totally disempower them.
“You empower kids by teaching them how to do something dangerous, but how to do it safely.”
Hundreds of children in Gloucestershire attend Cubs and Scouts where survival and outdoor skills are learned.
Scouting numbers have increased in Gloucestershire with more girls, boys and adults seeking out everyday adventure. The total number of young people and adults who have joined scouting has risen 1.4 per cent in the past year and membership figures have now reached 6,612.
Sue James from Gloucestershire Scouts groups said: “It’s true that children don’t always know survival skills. When we take the Scout groups out camping they learn skills such as putting up a shelter or making plate racks or starting fires. It’s learning but having fun at the same time.”
The National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4. How many have you achieved?
1. Climb a tree
2. Roll down a really big hill
3. Camp out in the wild
4. Build a den
5. Skim a stone
6. Run around in the rain
7. Fly a kite
8. Catch a fish with a net
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
10. Play conkers
11. Throw some snow
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream
15. Go sledging
16. Bury someone in the sand
17. Set up a snail race
18. Balance on a fallen tree
19. Swing on a rope swing
20. Make a mud slide
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree
23. Visit an island
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones
27. Watch the sun wake up
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Get behind a waterfall
30. Feed a bird from your hand
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river
How many have YOU done? What elese should be added to the list?
Bear, who takes 13 men out to a desert island to fend for themselves in his new Channel 4 show, said that it was part of being a dad to teach his three sons how to make a catapult, tie a knot and improvise a kite.
His boys, he says, set up search and rescue scenarios at home.
The Chief Scout is pushing for the school curriculum to be overhauled, with survival skills such as lighting a fire and tying a knot at the fore.
Bear added: “If you try to negate risk in children’s lives, you do them a disservice, because you teach them not to be afraid of risk.
“There is risk everywhere, even when you go out on the street. So if you teach kids to dodge risk, you totally disempower them.
“You empower kids by teaching them how to do something dangerous, but how to do it safely.”
Hundreds of children in Gloucestershire attend Cubs and Scouts where survival and outdoor skills are learned.
Scouting numbers have increased in Gloucestershire with more girls, boys and adults seeking out everyday adventure. The total number of young people and adults who have joined scouting has risen 1.4 per cent in the past year and membership figures have now reached 6,612.
Sue James from Gloucestershire Scouts groups said: “It’s true that children don’t always know survival skills. When we take the Scout groups out camping they learn skills such as putting up a shelter or making plate racks or starting fires. It’s learning but having fun at the same time.”
The National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4. How many have you achieved?
1. Climb a tree
2. Roll down a really big hill
3. Camp out in the wild
4. Build a den
5. Skim a stone
6. Run around in the rain
7. Fly a kite
8. Catch a fish with a net
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
10. Play conkers
11. Throw some snow
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream
15. Go sledging
16. Bury someone in the sand
17. Set up a snail race
18. Balance on a fallen tree
19. Swing on a rope swing
20. Make a mud slide
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree
23. Visit an island
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones
27. Watch the sun wake up
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Get behind a waterfall
30. Feed a bird from your hand
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river
How many have YOU done? What elese should be added to the list?
