Week 7 Writing Homework
Writing Prompt: “Are wilderness experiences necessary for developing character in young people?” – Present your argument
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- Due Date : June 21, 2025
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28 thoughts on “Week 7 Writing Homework”
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Should Children Experience the Wilderness for Character Development
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Isabella Peng
Have we become so afraid of discomfort that we deny our children the very experiences that forge character? Picture a teenager, rain-soaked and shivering, shoulders quaking under a heavy pack, eyes fixed on the winding trail ahead. This is no vacation—this is transformation. In a world dominated by comfort, screens, and instant gratification, wilderness experiences are not just beneficial—they are essential. They force young people to confront the elements, their fears, and their limits. In doing so, they uncover inner strength, resilience, and leadership that no textbook or tablet can ever do.
When adolescents stagger up steep slopes, lungs burning and thighs trembling with effort, they discover what it truly means to persevere. The physical hardships of wilderness—blistered feet, numbing fingers, aching backs—strip away convenience and reveal raw character. They must keep walking when comfort tempts them to stop. They must keep enduring when muscles scream with every step. They must keep believing when every obstacle says, “You can’t.” These challenges aren’t cruel—they are crucial. According to a study by the University of Melbourne, wilderness participants showed a 42% increase in measured resilience—not imagined, not theorized, but statistically verified. And that number comes alive in the moment a teenager summits a peak, gasping, shaking, and triumphant.
When the warmth of home is replaced by the cold indifference of wilderness, survival demands cooperation. It is in the remote silence of nature—not in crowded classrooms—that real leadership emerges. Setting up tents in fading light, cooking with limited supplies, navigating unknown paths—these tasks teach communication, adaptability, and trust. When one hiker falters, another must carry more. When tempers flare, compromise becomes essential. This crucible of shared challenge cultivates empathy and accountability. A study tracking over 500 high school students found those involved in multi-day wilderness programs were three times more likely to demonstrate leadership in future group settings. Is this not the very kind of growth we claim to value?
Imagine standing alone beneath an endless sky, far from phones, comfort, and certainty. In this loneliness, a young person meets not only nature—but themselves. The wilderness humbles, challenges, and reveals. What character is built in a climate-controlled room, behind filtered selfies and curated lives? None that will endure the real tests of adulthood. Studies have shown significant increases in decision-making ability, confidence, and stress management in teens who complete outdoor survival programs. But statistics pale in comparison to the lived experience of fear conquered, doubt silenced, and self-belief ignited by a night beneath a sky full of stars, wrapped in nothing but damp clothes and raw determination.
Some argue that character can be built in other ways—through school, sports, or volunteering. These are valuable, yes. But do they replicate the total vulnerability, the utter self-reliance, the bone-deep exhaustion that wilderness demands? Can a student learn true independence when a coach or parent is always nearby, ready to interfere? Wilderness doesn’t allow for hand-holding. It forces young people to rely on themselves and each other, and in that forced reliance, real maturity takes root.
In the end, character is not formed in ease—it is forged in fire, or in this case, in frost, exhaustion, and fear. The wilderness does not bend to comfort. It does not put up character. It reveals who we truly are. For young people growing up in a world increasingly defined by affectedness, wilderness experiences offer something sacred: reality. Blistered feet, chapped lips, howling winds—these are not obstacles, but invitations. Invitations to strength. Invitations to growth. Invitations to character.
And if we deny our youth these trials, what resonating substitutes will we offer instead?
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Varoon
Tiffany’s Wk7 writing homework
Week 7 writing homework TIffany Gu
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Tiffany Gu
Here’s my HW!
wilderness improves character
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Anastasia Peng
Wilderness experiences are crucial for developing character in young people as you learn tremendously from any mistakes which come your way, youngsters get more experience, and you will become stronger, patient, resilient, and creative. This will help build up your strengths and can destroy any weaknesses in you. You can find peace and block out distractions not just outside, but also within yourself. This is why I believe that wildlife experiences are crucial for developing character in young people.
Firstly, I know for a fact that kids can develop lots of character from outdoor, wilderness experiences as you get lots of experience. The longer you stay in the wild, the more used to it you will get. Then when you go back home, you will be used to the drastic wilderness, and you will be ready for anything. Even if a huge truck is about to hit you and you have something like a fraction of a second to react, you will be able to get away safely. The wilderness is powerful.
Secondly, the wilderness is needed as experience for younger civilians as it makes them stronger, patient, resilient, creative, and you learn from mistakes. You will need to walk a lot for survival, which makes you strong. Sometimes, it will rain, and you will need to wait and become patient. Sometimes, you might face downfall and need to be resilient and creative in your ideas. If the first time in making a house, you make a mistake, next time you will know to avoid the same mistake. You just got better! See, you can learn from your mistakes whether you believe me or not.
Lastly, the wilderness offers great experience for younger people, developing lots of character in them. It can help build up your strengths and destroy your weaknesses. The longer you spend, the more time building up your character. Everyone knows if you practise, you can succeed. Same here. Practise life in the wilderness, and you will succeed in life!
Ultimately, wilderness experiences are amazing for youngsters as they can help develop and build their character. It can help in various methods, and you learn from hundreds of mistakes later on! You become patient, resilient, and strong, and you will become a better person overall in life.
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – AryanR
Wilderness Experiences Are Essential – It’s A Necessity
The feeling of reaching a mountain submit with bruises on their legs and sweat pouring on their head is not felt very often with kids. Children in this generation are addictive with their screens and don’t experience nature. With wilderness experiences, it can teach skills and overcome challenges while inspiring many children. I believe that it is vital that children have wilderness experiences to develop character.
Firstly, it can teach essential skills and knowledge. It can save lives in some situations. You will know if a plant is edible to eat or if its poisonous. For example, when you are in the forest and you don’t know how to make a fire, shine a glass bottle in the direction of the sun to create embers. This will start a fire.
Furthermore, they can feel appreciation and accomplishment. They need to work hard with effort to achieve their goal. This leads to the child being more resilient. Research from the University of Melbourne and Monarch University demonstrate wilderness programs, 42% increase in resilience. As a result, if children go have wilderness experience, they will have resilience.
Finally, it can inspire children to do this for their career. This includes explorer, park/zoo rangers, outdoor educators and many more. Then they can teach the next generation to it too while earning for a living. This is why children must have wilderness experience.
Although there are many good aspects about it, many say that it can be dangerous. As long as you have a professional or a trusted adult to guide you, the chances of danger are low.
Inconclusion, it is beneficial than children have wilderness experiences. It not only inspires children, develop personality but teach life-saving skills. Now order a wilderness class or take them to explore nature parents!
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Alessia Li
In a world increasingly shaped by convenience and speed—where responses are instant and discomfort is rare—genuine personal growth is becoming harder to cultivate. Yet, character is not born from ease; it is honed through adversity. That’s why wilderness experiences are not just enriching—they are indispensable for young people. The challenges posed by nature foster resilience, maturity, and self-awareness in ways that no curated environment ever could.
To begin with, immersion in the wilderness instills perseverance. When a teenager is trekking for hours under an unrelenting sun or battling exhaustion in the midst of a thunderstorm, they encounter limits they never knew existed—and push through them. This kind of mental fortitude cannot be downloaded or taught in theory. A recent University of Melbourne study demonstrated that students who participated in outdoor survival programs exhibited marked improvements in emotional endurance and decision-making under pressure. They didn’t just talk about persistence—they embodied it.
Wilderness experiences also cultivate authentic leadership and collaboration. When your tent collapses in high wind, or someone forgets the map, solutions must come fast—and from the group. Titles and social status disappear; competence, compassion, and adaptability rise to the surface. Supporting each other under pressure transforms peers into reliable teammates and even quiet students into steady leaders. These qualities are earned, not assigned.
Additionally, navigating nature’s unpredictability promotes autonomy. In day-to-day life, young people are often surrounded by support structures: teachers, parents, digital assistants. But in the wild, it’s up to them. They must interpret, improvise, and overcome. This independence doesn’t just shape them for outdoor challenges—it equips them to handle the complexities of adult life with composure and confidence.
Some may argue that structured activities like school sports or volunteering can also teach character—and to an extent, they do. But such environments often come with buffers and predefined outcomes. The wilderness offers no such safety net. Its trials are unscripted, its consequences real. And it is precisely this authenticity that makes the experience transformative.
Most of all, time in nature provides clarity. Far from the noise of social media and academic pressure, young people can reflect without interference. They begin to hear their own thoughts, test their values, and discover what truly matters. Many return from these journeys not just stronger, but changed—grounded, composed, and more certain of who they are.
So yes, wilderness experiences may be daunting, even unforgiving. But that’s precisely what makes them powerful. They demand courage, endurance, and cooperation—and in doing so, they shape the kind of resilient character that endures long after the boots are off and the backpacks are unpacked. In a world that often rewards the quick and easy, wilderness gives young people something far more enduring: substance.
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – rainie-jiangoutlook-com
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Felix SUN Week 7 Schoarship Writing
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – zhuyingdorahotmail-com
Oscar’s writing week 7
Nature and Adventure
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – mickydq82gmail-com
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Character In the Wilderness
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – b34fdream
Have you ever felt the triumph that sizzles through your veins along with the sheer sense of accomplishment and pain when you stand atop a mountain, each blistered finger, each muscle that protest with a spark of agony, each exhausted breath uncovering the veil of not just the outside of you, but your character and perspective. How can we expect our children to develop a new lense of looking at the world, resilience and cooperation when their life is dominated by flashing screens which will never be able to compare with the wilderness. Screens can never give the experience of feeling a splinter dig deep into flesh, each movement sparking pain. Screens can never give the experience of feeling adrenaline course through your veins as you rustle across trees, hearing the bear’s heavy footsteps following you, its malicious eyes glaring at you while your legs pound onto the underbrush below, each step reverberating into your skull. Screens can never give the experience of feeling your hands being scraped bloody from setting up camp, an inadequate shelter that will not be able to keep out the heavy pieces of hail as they crash into the tent, each one a reminder of your isolation. It is imperative that we allow children to experience the wilderness in order to develop a new perspective, resilience and cooperation.
First and foremost, it is adamant that we let children experience the wild, as it can grant their perspective the ability to change and grow. After being in the wild for 2 weeks, Mei, a 12 year old student, stated that all of her schoolwork seemed much easier than before, after realising how challenging surviving in the wilderness could be, and how much energy it could drain out of you compared to a school day. When you are in a situation where your hands are covered in cuts, blood seeping out of them, it’s a stark contrast of how students who haven’t experienced the wilderness grumble simply about not knowing a maths problem. This can positively impact the lense of which you view things, assisting in personal growth. It is clear that wilderness experiences can greatly boost your perspective.
Secondly, these wilderness experiences can also demonstrate the resilience forged by them. After spending months in the wilderness, your heart becomes an iron core, fueled by determination. When adolescents cower beneath towering mountains, that is where true resilience is created, not in classrooms. When 8 year old Maya spent a month in the wilderness alone and got attacked by a bear, she confessed afterwards that before going out there, she would have stopped and accepted her fate. However, after building bricks of resilience every day she spent, resulting in a house that would keep her safe. Her instincts told her to run, and she gasped for air, terrified but feeling the adrenaline powering through her veins. After scrambling up a bumpy tree with limited handholds, she miraculously evaded the bear. Therefore, there is no doubt that resilience is not forged through classrooms; it is constructed in the wilderness.
Finally, it can hugely benefit cooperation. On your first day, can you imagine just getting shoved into the wilderness, nothing changed about you? Due to the fact that the changes only start becoming visible after an extended period of time, having to set a shelter up by yourself would be quite challenging. However, according to a group of year 6 boys who had experienced the wilderness for 4 weeks, they all had to work together to set up shelter for the first night and keep each other warm. It didn’t matter if one of them bullied the other one for fun; it mattered about survival. In conclusion, it is obvious that cooperation can be formed in classrooms, but in can be more strongly experienced in the wilderness.
To summarise, having a wilderness experience can greatly boost and change your perspective, resilience and cooperation. Character is not forged by lazing around while checking your email. If you truly want to develop character, you must take the hard road, even if it is filled with pain and agony. However, you will find that the cuts and bruises will mean nothing in the long run when success is yours because of what a wilderness experience taught you, not a screen or words on a chalkboard.
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Aria Cui
Don’t you think that the teenagers of today are heavily mollycoddled, their eyes glued to screens? Are you sick of them squandering valuable time lazing around and mindlessly staring at their phone, eating packets of chips? Aren’t you fed up with your kids just sitting around, attached to their devices and nagging at you for money to buy some useless game tokens? If so, wilderness extremes and experiences will erase all those happy and cuddly thoughts of lying around with a phone in your hand and instil treacherous thoughts of self doubt before vanquishing a mountain peak, your hands calloused and bruised from sharp stones slitting their greasy palms. Out in the wilderness, it’s you versus everything, whether it be sharp gales of wind driven rain, or treacherous mountain climbs that require immense focus and resilience as your hands are dotted with blisters and your legs burning from hours upon hours of struggling. This can embed teamwork in your mind and give you a fighting spirit tougher than steel.
Imagine your chubby little fingers grasping onto the steep cliffside of a mountain, your hands bleeding from hanging on and your lungs burning. Crystal shards of rain penetrate your sweaty skin and your legs dangle over a sixty meter deep plummet. Your heart races and your muscles are shouting in excruciating pain. You have one choice, jump. You plummet down the cliff, your stomach churning and spine tingling. The icy water hits you like a bullet, your hair soaked and shoulders aching like never before. Decision making, it’s the core of essential skills. Wilderness experiences are the perfect way to instigate decision making skills and they teach valuable lessons for the future. Out in the wild, it is solely a matter of life or death and each decision is crucial for survival. Back home, the only decisions you ever make are really what junk food to order for lunch but in the wilderness, you have to fend for your meals, you have to savour every last bite. Out in the wild, nothing comes easily at your doorstep, everything that is done can’t be reversed, and you have to choose what you do. This is why it is vital to participate in wilderness camps.
When the word teamwork is uttered, what comes to mind? Perhaps gruellingly assembling a tent and scavenging for wood with your peers to build a raft. Or perhaps roasting food with an open fire and foraging for resources that are quintessential for your survival. This is what teamwork looks like in the wild and it is crucial to be able to thrive with peers. In the wild, teamwork is invaluable and is the bedrock upon which strong rapport is built and can aid significantly in learning to obtain valuable materials and resources in the wild. In 2013, a study from the university of Sydney concluded that 49 percent of all teenagers who actively participated in wilderness activities gained significantly more cooperation skills and also, people have come back from the wild with an increased mentality and self esteem. As we all know, without teamwork and peers that cooperate with you, living in the wilderness is no easy feat. Only once you have collaborated with your teammates, you will accomplish a life skill that will never be forgotten.
Have your arms ever gave in to the immense pressure of setting up camp and have your hands ever bled from the true work of establishing a camp to reside in for the night? Have you ever experienced the crushing doubt that swarms your mind before you scale mountains that are covered with crevices and crannies that give way lighter than sand? Have you ever questioned your choices halfway into a treacherous run only to pursue the victorious thought of completing such an intensive task? Wilderness experiences not only build a strong sense of self achievement when completing highly arduous tasks, but provide grit that stays with you forever. It’s your fighting spirit that keeps you going in the toughest of times. Your mentality in the wild is not to give way to curveballs, but tackle them and vanquish your doubtful thoughts. Your mind will instantly adapt to the tough environment and will prosper from the idea of success even though hardships came your way.
Henceforth, wilderness experiences are paramount in ensuring that teenagers grow physically and mentally stronger, they understand the true meaning of teamwork, and they allow complex decision making skills for the future. Research also has proven that wilderness experiences enhance understandings of cooperation and resilience. This is why wilderness experiences are vital in the lives of teenagers and children to incorporate a true understanding of ourselves and invaluable skills that stick with us forever.
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Sinduja
My HW
Wilderness Experiences are Necessary for Developing Character in Young People
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Yilin Tao
week 7 writing attached
Week7
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SCHOL-Y5_WK7 – Tina Y