If the word ‘adventure’ is taken in its dictionary definition, that of; a risk, a daring enterprise or an unexpected happening, it seems to be entirely up to the individual and Fate to provide ‘adventure’. If the word ‘adventure’ is taken in the context of meaning a holiday or excursion away from the usual happenings of everyday life, there are a few opportunities open to people these days.
For boys from about the age of eight to eighteen there are the Cub Scouts, the Scouts and the Venture Scouts, with branches such as the Sea Scouts. The Scouting Organisation, which is world-wide, provides many opportunities for adventure. For the boys who join the organisation there are camping holidays, where they may spend a few nights ‘under-canvas’ away from home, but still more or less within easy reach of home. And then there are camping holidays in other parts of the world, where the Scouts will meet Scouts of other nationalities, which broadens peoples’ horizons. For girls of this age group there is, of course, the Girl Guides, who are the female equivalent of the Scouts, and also go on camping holidays.
For those young people who do not wish to join the Scouts or Girl Guides, there are always school excursions. These may vary from a day-trip to somewhere fairly locally, to another country. These school-trips can provide fun to both pupils and teachers, provided the pupils behave themselves to a decent extent, and the teachers realise that they are not dictators.
For teenagers who have left school but still wish for an adventure, they can join youth-clubs, and provided that the youth-club is organised enough, holidays abroad can be arranged by the youth-club organiser. The teenagers could also arrange a holiday among themselves and go boating on a canal, or spend a weekend pony-trekking. Youth hostels are excellent establishments as they enable youths to spend a holiday walking, with the knowledge that they will find accommodation for themselves at the end of the day.
Teacher’s Comments
15/25
A good opening – it is sensible to define the word before you write about it.
You have only catered for the youth of today – but the title of the essay expressed no such limitation. Be careful! This has lost you marks
(c) M. Robert Gibson
Written 1979-01-23
This is a school essay.
It was written well before the internet. It is full of inaccuracies and assumptions; bad punctuation; bad grammar and a woeful lack of research, but, it is also a first draft. It was also hand-written in an exercise book, none of your fancy electronic gizmos back then.
And don’t forget, it was written by a schoolboy in a time before political correctness.
It is published here for purely selfish vanity reasons, so read it at your own peril and do not expect any great revelations.
M. Robert Gibson 