September 14, 2010

Respect for Nature

Written by: J.J. Iverson, Social Studies Teacher, West High School

As a youngster growing up, one of the hardest transitions I had to make was moving from Mississippi to Pierre, South Dakota the summer before fifth grade. Although I was excited to move to where my father was from and be closer to relatives, I was still a little scared as to what this new place had to offer. In order to make the transition smoother my parents signed me up for numerous activities to get me interacting with other kids and get me comfortable with my new environment.

One of these activities was the local Boy Scouts. At first, I didn’t like the idea of having to wear a uniform, show up at a church on Tuesdays for meetings, pay dues, and volunteer. However, when my parents showed me the brochure of Troop 27 camping, whitewater rafting, hiking, shooting rifles, and mountain climbing, I thought being a boy scout wouldn’t be too bad.

I remember our first camping trip I was so excited! We were headed to Ft. Robinson in Wyoming to plant trees after a fire had ravaged the area a couple years earlier. Upon arriving and checking in, our scout master told us that before we could set up camp we would first patrol the campsite and pick up any trash. I thought this was silly, especially after he told us we would be doing it again before we left. This was my first lesson in having a respect for nature. We would all line up side-by-side with our arms extended outward on one edge of the campsite. Imagine a long police lineup of teenage boys positioned like human crosses. On the command of the scout master we would begin walking – picking up any trash in our paths. We would do this both lengthwise and width wise to ensure every bit of trash was picked up.

Even though I disliked the idea of having to do this before every camping trip I soon realized that this short, simple task was important for several reasons. It taught us about cleanliness, neatness, organization, and teamwork. Above all, it helped us develop a respect for nature.

To this day every time I go camping I include this pre and post cleanup as part of my routine. Some people ask me why I do it and I tell them that I’m just trying to do my part to keep the land beautiful. I also do it because I know my scout master would put me on dish duty if I didn’t.

This is my experience dealing with Respect for Nature as I was growing up in South Dakota in the early 1990’s.