Woodbury Reports, Inc.
Bonners Ferry, ID

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What Wilderness Does Best

June 9, 2014

Today's guest on Parent Choices for Struggling Teens was John Hunt, author of Walking with Jason. This book chronicles the life of his son, Jason William Hunt, a wilderness educator who was killed in a rock climbing accident while on vacation. Jason worked with at-risk kids at a wilderness therapy program where he reached out to help build confidence in these young kids who were lacking self-esteem and confidence. Joining Lon Woodbury and his co-host Liz McGhee, John shared about Jason's own struggles in becoming a wilderness educator and how being authentic helped reach these kids.

"The wilderness is a place that kids know nothing about," John shared. "They are taken out of their comfort zone and quickly learn the natural consequences of dealing with Mother Nature. For them, the wilderness is an unfriendly environment and some of them have never even seen a tree, let alone a forest."

Jason loved the outdoors and discovered his love for rock climbing when he was in high school. It was then he knew he had to find jobs that would lead him to the outdoors. He took the combination of his mom's love of teaching and his dad's love of the outdoors and made it into his own persona, to become an outdoor guide and to reach out to kids.

"The toughest part for me in writing the book about Jason was writing a book period, and to do so without using a parent's rose colored glasses," explained John. Talking to friends and field instructors who worked with Jason, John gathered much information as they shared their remembrances of how he became a great wilderness instructor and what skills he had to master in order to do so. Jason mastered both the hard skills, those physical aspects of wilderness programming such as putting up a tent, paddling a canoe, rock climbing, starting a fire, cooking and cleaning, etc. and the soft skills, talking, empathy, being non-judgmental and communicating with kids that have never been outdoors. This mastery resulted in having the ability to draw kids out of themselves, and to be in an open working relationship with them. From some of Jason's own notes and journals, he wrote a list of things that have worked in dealing with kids: be fair, firm and friendly, be calm, cool and collected, and talk to them in a conversation, not at them.

"The wilderness experience has to be an authentic journey for these kids," shared John. It is meant to build confidence in the child and allow them to focus on their own abilities.

In an excerpt John's daughter wrote about Jason, was an explanation of what wilderness does to a person. "After Jason graduated from college, he went to work at a dude ranch in Colorado. When he returned home on New Year's Eve, the young man who stepped out of the car was hardly the youth his family remembered; he had matured and grown up. There was a steady calm about him and an awareness of self like he had come into his own. He had discovered something in those mountains that he was sure was out there. But really it had been within him the entire time."

After Jason's death, John wrote the book, Walking With Jason</emWhat Wilderness Does Best on LATalkRadio.
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Lon Woodbury is the owner/founder of Woodbury Reports, Inc. and www.strugglingteens.com. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984 and is the host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens and The Woodbury Reports.

Elizabeth McGhee is the Director of Admissions and Referral Relations at Sandhill Child Development Center and has over 19 years' of clinical, consulting and referral relations experience to her position and is the co-host.

John Hunt is the author of "Walking with Jason" and the founder of the Jason William Hunt Foundation, a scholarship fund that provides therapeutic wilderness expeditions for kids learning to believe in themselves again and was started in honor of his son, Jason, who was a wilderness educator prior to his death in 2001, from a vacation rock climbing accident. Proceeds from John's book go to the JWH foundation.

If you know somebody (including yourself) who would make a good guest on our show and might be interested, contact Lon at lonwoodbury@gmail.com or 208-267-5550

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Attention:

The following books are available on Amazon.com:

Part 1 - The Introduction to the Parent Empowerment Handbook
Part 2 - Single Sex Schools
Part 3 - Wilderness Therapy and Outdoor Education
Part 4 - Pre-Teens & Young Adults