Tonight's TV: Man Vs Wild
Follow survivalist Bear Grylls (and an entire camera team) into the harsh and unforgiving Lakota national park.
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As our lives become increasingly saturated with technology, digital media and the internet, it's no secret that children are spending less time in the great outdoors. Whether it's hours spent in front of the TV, surfing the internet, playing on a games console or a combination of these, kids today seem far less inclined to enjoy the natural world than in previous generations.
While older generations have long bemoaned a decline in the time spent outside, there can be serious consequences from less time outdoors. According to Dr William Bird, health adviser to the Natural England organisation, a lack of exposure to nature has the potential to adversely affect children's mental health.
But while Generations Y and Z are more likely to play video games than recreating the adventures of Enid Blyton's Famous Five, they are not without inspiration when it comes to enjoying what nature has to offer.
Bear Grylls is a former member of the British Special Services and has carved a place for himself in the popular consciousness through his TV show, Man vs Wild. In the show, Grylls encounters various types of hostile terrain and places himself in stressful situations to demonstrate survival techniques.
The show has attracted some notoriety due to Grylls' willingness to subject himself to otherwise-repulsive scenarios — eating unappetising critters for example — but it's his passion for the outdoors and an unbridled sense of adventure that has the potential to inspire younger viewers to get off the couch and head outside.
As well as his Man vs Wild adventures, Grylls has had a leading role in a number of truly impressive expeditions. In 2003 he led the first team to cross the North Atlantic Ocean in an "open" rigid inflatable boat, in 2000 he led the first team to circumnavigate the UK by jet ski and in 1998, at the age of 23, he became the youngest Briton (at the time) to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
But if Bear Grylls has the potential to motivate otherwise-sedentary TV viewers into action, then the efforts of Ed Stafford should be enough to spark an adventuring revolution among our younger generations.
Earlier this month, the former British Army captain became the first person to hike the length of the Amazon River. The epic trek took Stafford 859 days to complete in which time he faced hostility from local indigenous communities, the constant danger of not finding enough food and unwanted attention from all manner of creepy crawlies.
Stafford's journey began in April 2008 when he reached the summit of the Nevado Mismi, a peak in the Peruvian Andes that is widely credited as the source of the Amazon River. At that point Stafford had the company of friend Luke Collyer but after the two had a falling out and the latter left the expedition, Stafford continued on alone.
Five months into the trek, Stafford was joined by Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, a local Peruvian who planned to accompany Stafford for five days. When Stafford reached the mouth of the Amazon two years later, Cho was still by his side.
While it's pretty hard not to be inspired by Stafford's efforts, not everyone is going to find the idea of a two-and-a-half year hike all that appealing. In fact, only a small percentage of the population would even consider embarking on such an expedition.
According to Dr Brad Wright, a lecturer in the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University, it is a sense of "hardiness" that sets the likes of Stafford and Grylls apart from the majority of the population.
"Hardiness is defined by higher levels of commitment, challenge and control," he said. "Those with a drive to push themselves to achieve often gain immense satisfaction from achieving their ambitions."
Sure, the efforts of Bear Grylls and Ed Stafford might be beyond the reach of most people, but that's not to say they shouldn't be cause for inspiration. And, at a time when our younger generations are spending less time outside than ever before and the average Australian adult spends 90 per cent of their time indoors, there are certainly worse people we could be looking up to.
Matthew de Neef is a freelance writer who has just completed a graduate diploma of journalism at La Trobe University.
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