‘Get to the choppa!’ —Arnold Schwarzenegger
As I relaxed at our campsite in Wye River on the famous Great Ocean Road over Christmas, I watched hundreds of children doing some stuff that might have ordinarily called for the ‘Parent Helicopter.’ They bounced up and down on an air pillow trampoline performing flips and tricks that no school in their right mind would allow.
Kids rode their bikes in between cars, played cricket with wooden cricket bats, kicked footballs without helmets, interacted with strangers as they ran various stalls, explored the hills, surfed, skated, hung out at the General Store and fed the goats, to name a few. Why in a campground with no fences, strangers everywhere, cars driving in and out with caravans attached, are parents so relaxed? Have they all lost their minds or did cocktail hour start a little too early? Imagine if your child’s school adopted this looser approach to watching the children?
Now, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might just know what was happening in Wye River, and it wasn’t a revolution because it happens every year around the same time. Is it possible that camping represents a time when our kids can be kids (like we were) and we can relax and keep a watchful eye (like our parents did) and simply enjoy being a parent because we have a village of parents doing the same thing? It is in this atmosphere of fun with a little bit of trust that these kids thrive, including mine.
Were there some bruises and scrapes? You bet there were. Could a school run this free range? No, but most schools should move closer to this type of environment rather than away from it. Charlie, my 12 year old, along with his mate, negotiated a discounted price at the pub for bags of ice after the General Store refused to budge on price. They then sold bags of ice to campers under the business name ‘Ice, Ice Baby.’ They made a tidy profit, donated some of it to the local CFA, scheduled deliveries between surfing and confidently interacted with almost everyone in the campgrounds.
What lessons did they learn from this experience? Way too many to list but some come to mind immediately. How can the lessons of this camping trip be applied at schools as the new year begins? If the key attributes of robust, resilient kids are:
• Competence
• Confidence
• Connection
• Self-control
• Problem Solvers
• Independent
How might the messages your school delivers to students, parents and the broader community foster the ‘Wye River Camping Effect?’ It might take unwavering determination to keep the ‘choppa’ in the hangar, but most of the really good stuff in schools does.