The Daily - January 31, 2019 - 30

Ideas
A C T I O N

Big City Mountaineers
students from the I Have a
Dream Foundation connect
with nature on an expediton in Colorado's Flat Tops
Wilderness Area.

Big Dreams

Big City Mountaineers celebrates 30 years
of bringing students into the outdoors-and
charts a course for the future.
By Bryan Martin
THE STATS AND SOUND BITES

are depressing: People spend 90
percent of their time indoors. Each
day, the average American boy or
girl spends as few as 30 minutes
playing outdoors and more than
seven hours in front of a screen.
Childhood obesity rates have more
than doubled in the last 20 years.
Pediatric prescriptions for antidepressants have risen precipitously.
In her book, iGen Dr. Jean
Twenge documents that the twin
rise of the smartphone and social
media is making our kids seriously
unhappy. She cites the "Monitoring
the Future" survey, which reports
that teens who spend more time
than average on screen activities
are more likely to be unhappy, and
those who spend more time than

/ SNOW SHOW 2019

average on non-screen activities
are more likely to be happy.
To be sure, there are many
inputs to a young person's life that
affect their health. But for us in the
outdoor industry, we know that a
part of the solution is to create a
closer connection to the natural
world for them.
To address these trends, an
ever-increasing cohort of businesses, nonprofits, and universities is taking a hard look at the
measurable benefits associated
with time outdoors. In Colorado,
the Outdoor Recreation Industry
Office released "Outdoor Rx," REI
recently funded a University of
Washington "Nature for Health"
study, and the Children & Nature
Network continues to coalesce

the best research on the physical,
mental, and communal benefits of
nature. At Big City Mountaineers,
we applaud these efforts.
As we enter our 30th season,
we are reflecting on decades of
success-but we're also remembering the lessons we've learned along
the way. To warrant continued
investment from communities
and supporters, we've had to prove
our model is successful. In a resource-thin and competitive environment, relevance is key. In 2008,
we began testing and measuring
our work more rigorously.
While going on a hike isn't a
panacea for the health crises we
face, our scaffolded program
model has been proven to positively impact the mental and
physical well-being of our students. Our programs have served
more than 10,000 students with
more than 45,000 nights out
under the stars. Every year, we
take pre- and post-trip surveys
of our students and have the
results examined by an independent researcher. Year after year,
our program has proven to be

effective at improving students'
positive values, increasing their
social competencies, and growing
a positive identity within them.
These shifts are important
because they've been determined
to reduce your likelihood of using
drugs or engaging in problem
alcohol behavior. You're less likely
to engage in violence at school or
at home. Youth with thriving levels
of assets have a high degree of
honesty, responsibility, self-esteem,
and self-purpose. And they are
typically more capable of effectively interacting with others, making
healthy but sometimes difficult life
decisions, eschewing negative peer
pressures, and believing in their
own self-worth.
The work we do has the potential to change the life trajectory of
young people, and that's as relevant
today as it was when Jim Kern led
our first trip in 1989. But there's
still work to do. We're going to
wake up tomorrow and next month
and next year and know that there
are kids out there who need our
support. Moving forward, we'll stay
focused on those students and work
hard each day to advance the mission we all care so much about.
Bryan Martin is the executive
director of Big City Mountaineers.

TAKE ACTION
There are many fulfilling
ways to support, get involved, and partner with Big
City Mountaineers. Come out
and volunteer, join a Summit for Someone climb, or
become an individual donor
or corporate sponsor. Learn
more at bigcitymountaineers.org or email us at info@
bigcitymountaineers.org.

CA R LO S H WA

B I G

http://www.bigcitymountaineers.org http://www.bigcitymountaineers.org

The Daily - January 31, 2019

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