This is most unfortunate. I'm convinced that one should learn to be adept with printed map and compass before ever touching a GPS. I've read and been told that Navy SEALS and virtually all other SOF personnel must demonstrate serious mastery of traditional map and compass skills before ever starting to use GPS.

Perhaps one way to interest the Boy Sprouts is to present it as a challenge or game? Go to someplace with a good view of surrounding landmarks, give them each a map, and challenge them to see who can first pinpoint their exact location (to a pencil point) by map inspection. Another fun exercise is to have people make a map of a small area using pace and compass? Again, present it as a fun game.

The other thing is, I wish people would get away from the idea of map and compass as only a "backup" to a GPS. Rather, they are tools to be used in conjunction with a GPS. This is particularly true of printed maps. For example, while a GPS screen may show your location pinpointed, it is often very difficult on that tiny screen to see how your location fits in to the bigger picture. A printed map allows one to view a much bigger chunk of territory at a glance. Much better for getting an overview. I really enjoy sitting on some high point, identifying surrounding features on the map, and visualizing the rest of my hike. And one can easily make notes on a map, to record info for future reference.

One last point. We are fortunate that today's technology allows us to combine electronic and traditional navigation tools. For example, it was always an old joke that the area of interest would be at the corner junction of 4 topo quad sheets. Back in the day, we sometimes did all sorts of cutting and splicing of map sheets to properly show the area we were interested in. Nowadays, with computer mapping programs, one can easily generate and print a map centered on our area of interest. Another thing I find very fun and enlightening is to use a GPS (often my iPhone) to record my track. Then at home I can download that into a mapping program to see where I went. One gains lots of interesting insights about terrain. It is fascinating to see clearly how often trails as shown on maps are not exactly where we walked. Lots of fun an interesting things to do using a combination of GPS and trad methods.