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Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better. |
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All Dear Dot illustrations by Elissa Turnbull. |
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Dear Reader,
When Dot was a young miscreant, punishment typically came in the form of “yard cleanup.” My fellow delinquents and I were given a bag and gloves and told to pick up trash around our schoolyard. As consequences go, it was pretty pleasant. I got fresh air over lunch and the chance to yuk it up with pals, and the school yard got tidied of trash.
But a school in Maine is telling its reprobates to take a hike. Literally. The offenses of a group of students range from playing video games in class to yelling at a teacher, but all students get the same “punishment”: a teacher takes them on a 3 1/2-mile hike in the woods. This turns out to benefit the teacher as well as the students: the unstructured time outdoors gives the teacher a chance to connect with the kids and get a better sense of their frustrations, while some of the kids enjoy the experience so much that they wind up joining the school’s optional Outdoor Hiking Club.
I’ve been a rule-following Dot since I left youth behind, but for those who are less so, I’m all for a solution that’s the opposite of incarceration — one that broadens kids’ perspectives by getting them outside of both the classroom and their comfort zone.
Want to reward your own good behaviour with a hike? Bluedot’s Miles Howard has loads of suggestions, both urban and rural. Check out his Miles to Go columns.
Obediently,
Dot
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