How To Raise An Adventurer

We’d all like our children to be brave, try new things and accept failure — but how can we nurture this? Here’s the advice of some of Australia’s top adventurers (and one of their mums!)

- Jacqui Hawkins

A girl aged nine or 10 sits hugging her knees on a beach, staring at the surf. Normally, her blue eyes sparkle with determination. Today, though, they’re wide with fear. She has set her heart on a triathlon but she needs to practise something that terrifies her. She needs to swim out into the deep, open sea.

Imagine you’re her dad beside her. What would you say? Tell her there’s nothing to be afraid of? Point out that everyone else can do it? Give up and take her home?

Being a parent is full of dilemmas like this one. You want to protect your kids from failure or hurt but you also want them to be brave and enjoy great triumphs.

In short, you want your children to be adventurers — and not just the outdoorsy ones! Adventurers come in lots of different guises. You’ll find them at scout camps or they might take difficult subjects at school. As adults, they could wear crampons or they might wear a suit and challenge themselves professionally. Adventurers, put simply, are people who step outside their comfort zones.

Adventurers also have a few things in common. They have big imaginations but are grounded in reality. They seize opportunities but understand failure. They’re brave yet can judge risk.

It sounds pretty good, right? Who wouldn’t love for their toddler to need less coaxing to try new things or for their anxious teenager to be more resilient and follow their dreams? The answer, oddly, seems to be lots of us.

Are adventurers a threatened species?