Non electronic activities for 15 year old.
My 15 year old grandson complained yesterday that he would like to do something other than play video games online, but that there is nothing for him to do because all of his friends are playing. They don't even come over anymore, they just log in. He wants to "go exploring", ride his bike, and "learn survival skills, like how to do stuff to survive without technology". He is worried that if something ever happened, no one would know how to do anything. He loves to make things. He is also a very social guy and wants to be with other people so bike riding by himself for example is not attractive. He just started at Berkeley High in CAS. His parents also have very limited income so expensive activities are not so much an option. I can help a little...
Does anyone have any suggestions for activities or groups where he might find some kindred spirits?
Parent Replies
How about the Oakland Composite Mountain Bike group? http://www.oaktowncomp.com/ I'm sure they would be open to a rider from Berkeley.
Your request made my day - I may cherish your message forever!
I recommend getting involved in Trackers: https://trackersbay.com/
Other things like boy scouts and sea scouts, etc would be more good options. Oakland Zoo programs. Berkeley High crew team. Can't wait to see what other people post back.
Really, thank you for asking this. Gives me some hope about our upcoming generation.
How about Boy Scouts or their co-ed program, Venturing?
Second it on Trackersbay! My 17 year old has taken Archery through them, and really wants to do a wilderness survival course there. They also teach blacksmithing, and all kinds of cool stuff. It sounds like a kindred spirit; my daughter also wants to master all the things your grandchild wants to do. What a thoughtful question you've made!
I second scouting. I was hesitant at first with some of the publicity around non-tolerance for LGBT and the overly religious aspects to some of the dogma. The national leadership has come to include LGBT as well as other, differently challenged kids. One of the things that prompted me select this troop was that they had a Venture troop and a Boy Scout troop side by side. That way, there was a mix of ages, interests and talents tha appealed to my son.
The religious part is a bit more of a fine line, since our troop meets in a church. However, this church is very welcoming to our non-Christian scouts, so perhaps it's a matter of finding the right troop/sponsor.
Your grandson should check out the teams and clubs at Berkeley High. There is a mountain biking club for example. Here's a list of clubs I found on BHS's website: http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/student-activities-3/berkeley-high-clubs…; Then he should check out the teams. http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/athletics/teams/ There are a number of teams that don't expect years of experience, including crew, golf, water polo, etc. and not all of them require expensive equipment. Financial assistance is often available. Some of them are spring sports so it is not too late to sign up. My son was on the lacrosse team at Berkeley High and that pretty much consumed all his afternoons and weekends for years, though he still managed to make time for video games! He is 30 something now and is still buddies with a lot of the guys from his high school team, and they meet for alumni games at BHS every year. Being in a club or on a team is a great way to make friends.
I wonder if volunteering would be a way to meet other like-minded teens. My kids are only 10 and 12 but I do feel like i need to start looking for offline teen activity.