The Impor­tance Of Being Advent­urous

I've been reading stories to my boys a lot over the last couple of years. It's been a consistent bedtime routine to have another chapter of the books that Eleanor's dad got for them. They're loving it and really keen every time I sit on the edge of the bed and make a start. They're never too old to have a story read to them.


But that's not the point of this post. The point is that they can get a huge amount of learning from these books. We started with The Coral Island by RM Ballantyne which is pure adventure through and through. A story of 3 lads marooned on a deserted Pacific island after a shipwreck. My boys were riveted.

We're now onto the next one which is also by the same author. The Gorilla Hunters has grabbed them from the outset as well.

But that's also not the point of this post.

The point is actually a section in Chapter 4 that we had last night which really strikes a chord in the modern world but this was written in 1861. It rings totally true and if there was ever a clear reason why our kids should grow up being able to just test their limits in the outdoors then this sums it up perfectly.

These two passages really describe the benefits of simply testing our own limits and developing a natural sense of risk control without letting it limit what we want to do.

"I also reflected, and not without a feeling of shame, on my want of nerve, and was deeply impressed with the importance of boys being inured from childhood to trifling risks and slight dangers of every possible description - such as tumbling into ponds and off trees, etc.- in order to strengthen their nervous system. I do not, of course, mean to say that boys ought deliberately to tumble into ponds or climb trees until they fall off; but they ought not to avoid the risks of such mishaps; they ought to encounter such risks, and many others, perpetually. They ought to practise leaping off heights into deep water. They ought never to hesitate to cross a stream on a narrow unsafe plank for fear of a ducking. They ought never to decline to climb up a tree to pull fruit, merely because there is a possibility of their falling off and breaking their necks. l firmly believe that boys were intended to encounter all kinds of risks in order to prepare them to meet and grapple with the risks and dangers incident to man's career, with cool, cautious self-possession - a self-possession founded on experimental knowledge · of the character and powers of their own spirits and muscles."

"I beg, then, that it will be understood that I do not by any means inculcate hare-brained recklessness or a course of training that will foster that state of mind. On the contrary, the course of training which I should like to see universally practised would naturally tend to counteract recklessness, for it would enable a boy to judge correctly as to what he could, and could not do."

As a small word of caution over the books - I wouldn't perhaps just get your kids to read them for themselves for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the language is somewhat archaic in places and I get a constant flow of "what does that mean" from Tobyn (he's 7 going on 11) but Isaac is able to pick out the meanings contextually (he's 10 going on 16).


The other reason is that the attitudes and language reflect those of the era in which it was written and there are some choices of words and thoughts which would be considered offensive nowadays but were clearly not considered that way back then. In fact the author was clearly speaking out against things like slavery but the words used might need a little in-line editing as you read it out and you may find with some older children that you can use it as a discussion and learning opportunity to highlight how things have improved from where they were and in many cases still need to improve.

But if you take a common sense view and use the books primarily as a vehicle to create excitement in adventure and can gloss over or use the "difficult" parts then these are awesome books. Regardless of that, I for one would always promote that kids (and adults) can get a lot of personal benefit from just giving things a try so you get to know your own abilities and limits.

I remember from my own childhood running around the local woods most days. I climbed trees, fell out of trees (a big lesson learned about how dead branches can be when completely covered with ivy but also that it might hurt to land on your back on the dirt from 10 feet up but you'll likely be able to get up and play some more once you can breathe again), dug dens in dirt banks which luckily didn't collapse and bury us, chased pheasants (never caught one), rode bikes, fell off bikes (don't think I'd ever heard of bike helmets then and I also learned a lesson in how much it hurts landing in nettles without a shirt on - but it also doesn't do you any real harm), poked around for newts in ponds, fell into the same ponds (learned how stinky that black layer of mud is but also that a bit of pond water and some mud just makes for a need of a bath), ran through fields of wheat, got legs scratched up from running through fields of wheat, threw stones at each other, got hit by stones, walked through fields, got cornered by cows, and horses, and geese but learned they're mostly all inquisitiveness or bluster and will back off again when you show you're not scared.

In short (because I've been told many time that I go on too much), I was a kid. And an adventurer. And an explorer. And a big game hunter. And a race driver. And a caveman. And a farmer. And an astronaut. And a soldier. And a zoologist (and yes I was also a precocious brat who knew what one was at 7 years old 🤣).