When Summer School Is Not Enough: Teens Learn in Nature's Classroom

A recent study by Professor Anna Mueller at the University of Texas confirms what teachers have long known: Teens who are under emotional distress cannot perform well at school.

“There is a relationship between failure and emotional distress,” Dr. Mueller concluded after analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study. “[And] trouble in one domain of adolescent life (academic or emotional) can spill over and affect the other."

Addressing the True Problem

Teachers and others who work with teens tell us to think of the teen's world of school, home, and friends as a three-legged stool. If one leg breaks, the other two cannot function properly. In order to address academic problems, parents and therapists usually have to intervene in emotional areas and within systems of family and friendships.

A teen may be distracted by his parents' divorce, and thus unable to concentrate on his schoolwork. He may be agonizing over a break-up with his girlfriend, and be feeling lonely, anxious, and isolated. He may be with the wrong crowd, experimenting with drugs and drinking, and attempting to maintain a secretive lifestyle that causes problems at home and in school.

If these kinds of things are going on, summer school won't fix the teen's academic problems. What parents can do instead of summer school is to intervene and try a therapeutic wilderness adventure camp that offers academic credit. This puts the teen into a completely new setting with sophisticated round-the-clock therapy.

Finding Help in the Wilderness

Summer is the best time to use wilderness therapy, because you won't disrupt your teen's school year. It also solves the problem of an unsupervised summer. Finally, it is natural for young people to "go away to camp" in the summer.

A wilderness program can dramatically interrupt bad attitudes and behavior patterns, and offer a teen a new perspective and an opportunity for intense self-growth. Sometimes teens can even earn academic credits during such summer programs.

For example, Aspen Achievement Academy, a licensed wilderness therapy program in Loa, Utah, allows teens ages 14 to 17 to earn one Utah credit (a semester's work) in social studies, English, science or physical education – or a combination of these subjects – during the summer.

Knowledge through Experience

As Aspen Academy teens spend their summer camping and hiking in beautiful vistas of the Utah wilderness, they are accompanied by counselors and a teacher. The participants have regular academic lessons, complete workbook assignments, and do written work. However, the outdoor setting may completely changes their attitudes toward school.

For example, they will study biology by keeping plant and animal logs and observing wildlife in its natural setting. As they hike upwards, the elevation changes, and so do the ecology systems. Students may start out among layers of sand dunes, move into desert conditions, and then climb all the way up to high forest. Each new area is home to new and different animal and plant species. Before the summer ends, they have camped in the equivalent of the highlands in northern Canada and the desert of the Sahara.

Instead of learning weather from books, charts, and maps, these teens master weather systems by tracking changes in wind, temperature, and air pressure. These changes are very relevant, as the students are living outdoors. Students learn to tell when a storm or cold front is moving in so that they can prepare for it. The phases of the moon are also important during a wilderness experience – for example, a moonless night means you need a campfire.

"Seeing" geology instead of studying it comes as a revelation to most students. They learn to "read a mountain" by understanding what the rocks and formations in each level mean in terms of the mountain's history and composition.

A Life-Changing Experience

Many teens who enroll in Aspen Achievement Academy are from large cities, and have never spent weeks outdoors. Because of light pollution at home, they have never seen the night sky in all its glory. During their wilderness experiences, they stargaze together, as their teacher regales them with the myths of Mars, Venus, and other ancient gods, and teaches them the names of the constellations.

For the very first time, many teens discover that school and learning are both relevant and useful. This is especially true for teens who learn best by experiences and observation rather than book and lecture. For the first time, they get an “A” in something. For the first time, they understand how something like a solar eclipse works, or why animals behave the way they do And because their learning is experiential and hands-on, it becomes truly meaningful to them.

Many Benefits

Some of nature's lessons are helpful as metaphors for a teen's own life. For example, a teen can study the life cycle of a star. After a star forms through nuclear fusion, it must maintain a state of equilibrium or else it will blow up. Teens learn that inner pressures pull not only stars apart, but also young people.

The main benefit of a wilderness program is the therapeutic treatment that enables troubled teens to work through their problems. However, wilderness therapy also gives teens the chance to enter a completely new world without the distractions of video games, television, cell phones and other technology. It is an opportunity to have a real adventure with a group of supportive peers, and therapists who work with them on a constant basis. It is a chance to take healthy risks and test their limits.

A very common side effect, however, is improved academic performance once a teen returns home. As one Aspen Academy teacher said, "After a summer of wilderness, our kids hit sophomore or junior year of high school in a 'dead run.'"