Tree climbing
Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:
When I was a kid, I could hardly pass a tree without considering whether it would be a good climbing tree or not. But do kids still climb trees?
My older son used to like to climb trees, although we don’t have any in our yard with branches low enough to reach. Sometimes he would climb a neighbor’s pine tree and get covered with the sticky sap. But I can’t recall seeing my tween ever climbing a tree. He is happy to play video games and figure out all kinds of strategies for the characters to climb, leap, crawl and fly. And a few times he has climbed on those climbing walls at fairs and carnivals. But a tree? I don’t think he has.
I started to wonder if this lack of interest in tree climbing was common condition among tweens and so I turned to the Internet. And, of course, I soon found sites for tree climbing associations and even a tree-climbing how-to.
What surprised me about these sites, however, was how tree climbing is no longer a spur-of-the-moment thing; it has become a sport with its own equipment, including rope, harnesses and helmets.
Now I am sure this will upset some folks, but when it comes to tree climbing, I’m a purist. I believe tree climbing is an art that doesn’t need to be corrupted by all sorts of equipment. I recognize that many kids have fallen out of trees and been hurt. But I think one reason kids don’t want to play outside anymore is that it has become such a hassle. By the time they put on the pads and helmets, gathering up equipment or locate a “safe” place to play, they lose interest. It’s so much easier to turn on the TV or play video games.
So with summer around the corner, I’m going to try to loosen up a bit. Yes, I want my son to still put on a helmet when he rides his bike, but if he wants to go exploring in the woods, I’m not going to remind him to stay out of the poison ivy or watch for snakes. If he wants to play basketball in the court, I’m not going to tell him to watch out for cars. And if he wants to climb a tree, I’m not going to require him to get a rope and wear a helmet.
After all, fun should still be fun.
Comments
That is a really interesting point about it being too much trouble for kids to play outside. Sunscreen, helmets, etc. probably do get in the way of just going outside and having fun!
Posted by: Betsy | May 31, 2011 12:12 PM
I'm of two minds about this. We happen to have an excellent climbing tree in our yard, which was often occupied by our kids and neighbor kids when they were younger. On the other hand, my niece fell out of a tree over the 4th of July weekend when she was 3 or 4 and broke her arm. You don't want to go to the ER when the brand new doctors are just figuring out what the heck they are doing there.
Posted by: Dahlink | May 31, 2011 1:54 PM
You are mis-representing what today's tree climbers are about. We use gear because we're climbing canopies... aka usually 50ft+ in the air. I would hope that you're not advocating that your son climb to the canopy of a tree without the proper climbing gear and instruction.
We're not kids climbing up 10-20ft and playing around. Its a different atmophere with people doing it for different reasons. You'd be VERY surprised how many children LOVE to get their saddle on and climb up a rope to see the world from the top of a tree.
Posted by: Paul D | June 16, 2011 7:56 AM
I agree with Paul D! As a certified arborist who has been cut by chain saws and had his life saved many times by ropes, harnesses and proper head gear, I feel that safety is of absolute importance. I now run a company that specializes in a much safer side of tree climbing; Recreational Tree Climbing. Remembering back to when I was a kid, the highest we would climb was around 10-12 ft. high in the canopy, where as with recreational tree climbing we often climb to heights of 30 ft. or more. I think the problem lies in more our culture as a whole teaching our kids about instant gratification. Video games do provide this instant gratification and stimulates their minds to where they don't HAVE to go outside and get dirty to have a good time. I think the emphasis should be on how sad it is that we have gotten so far away from the outdoors as a nation instead of how we've complicated the outdoors, when really we've made new parts of the outdoors available to kids and "kids-at-heart"
Posted by: mattlatham | October 4, 2011 1:54 PM