Thru Hiker Numbers down for 2019?

[Dogwood]

@knighErrant. Enjoyed the post. Observant.

When I hiked Monroe in August, I was delighted by how many kids I saw out with their parents. At least half of the groups included kids, from toddlers in carriers up through teens. I also sponsor and chaperone the hiking club of the school where I work, and in a school with about 150 kids in grades 5-8 eligible to join, over 40 of them are in the club. We brought our 7th and 8th graders on an overnight to Lonesome Lake hut for a leadership training back in October, no phones allowed, and I heard no complaints about it (none from the kids, that is... We did have some complaints from parents when we were unreachable and the weather was 40 windy and rainy and they were worried and so unused to being able to text their kid at any moment).

What would you say was the avg age of the parents? I ask desiring to know how long they've, on average, been exposed to smart ph/hand held mobile computers like SP's/I-net tech and helicopter parenting? Habits are more advanced? The pre-teen and teens may not have grown into such a depth of habit or, perhaps, addiction as their parents.

If you don't see kids outside, part of the reason is very likely technology available indoors, I think a large part is also the paranoid and competitive parenting that exists today. Kids aren't allowed to walk to or from the school where I work, even though it's less than a mile from the center of town, because people are so afraid of abductions and accidents. The unstructured "go out and play kickball or whatever, come back at dark" kind of parenting that even I received just 10-20 years ago would be considered neglect by a lot of people today. Instead, make sure your kid is signed up for every activity under the sun! A sport for every season, dance class, gymnastics, boy scouts, all of it!

Competitiveness. Where and how can that often originate? I contend, sure, it's part of survival of the fittest but also out of overly egotistical personality types, ego dominated thinking. What do you think? The fear also stems from the abundant TV, internet, written verbal accounts of pedophilism as if it is every where and everyone(more dbags) are abducting and abusing children. Talk to a six-10 yr old at a playground especially as a male or pat little Johnny on the head saying "what grade are you in?" , see what can happen. What can happen in cultures like the U.S. with an abundance of options, some say an over abundance? Too many options has been demonstrated to create analysis paralysis. We also expect it culturally similar, if not the same, to be catered to and pampered with abundance with a developed Supersize Me, massive portions of meat for food, etc mentality, like on a trip to France, limiting the visit to Paris, when we can't see beyond expectation of access to our countries cultural norms. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schw...ce?language=en Did you watch the TED talk? What do you think? It also stems from the availability of over access to information, linked to too many options, creating the illusion that we can or have to know everything also creating a perfectionist mindset and age of self authorizing experts. Do we all truly all the time need to be walking around with what amounts to a library in our hands a million times more powerful than a NASA Apollo 11 guidance computer which is what a developed habit on SP/hand held computer usage can create. Where do you suppose the goal for everyone to have such an access originates? Could it be in the minds of Nerds? What do you think?


Your ideas sound like a chapter out of Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. May want to check it out if you haven't already.