Despite our vast wilderness, Canada's population is overwhelmingly urban, living in concrete deserts and relying on the grid to supply all necessities.

It's no surprise, then, that few teenagers have any exposure at all to wilderness. If they haven't seen it online or at the mall, it doesn't exist in their world. Even their parents are now separated from the pioneer/farm/wilderness experience by several generations. Survivorman et al is the closest they'll ever get.

To the thinking of a grade 9 student, the "uniform" of runners and cotton jeans is mandatory. Only when they actually freeze their butts off, in a serious way, will they start to see the value of appropriate clothing.

Generally, outdoor education has always been an extracurricular activity or a volunteer endeavour. The only way to get any traction is to tie it to core curriculum and teach the skills in that context. Science: how does a mouse or squirrel survive the winter. Environment: what's in the water; how does the carbon cycle capture, store and release energy. History: how did First Nations people thrive and survive. Social studies: what's it like to be homeless and on the street.

My $0.02.