It really is a matter of implied risk, if you will.
Scouts Canada does a great program in the Cypress Hills area in Saskatchewan. The kids think they're going on a week-long backpacking trip without adult supervision. The reality is that there are adults following behind at a short distance. They can see everything that's going on, while the kids get the feeling that they're doing something.
You know, I've watched the kids at the beginning of that trip and the kids at the end of that trip, and they go from about here to here, it seems, in terms of height. They're more independent. They're more likely to do things.
The other reality is that at the end of the trip, they can go to their parents and say, “You know what? I did all these things by myself.” In turn, their parents are more likely to say, “You know what? We're going to let you do some more things by yourself.”
A great example of that is Craig Kielburger from Free the Children, who was on our national board. He always talks about going to India by himself when he was 13. I asked his mother once how on earth she let him do that. She said, “He was a Scout. I knew he could be trusted.”
We can do these things. We train the kids so that they know how to take part in the outdoors.