Since 1877... quite a story, ain't it?

Bay Area Wilderness Training. http://www.bawt.org/about/
Farms are cool, but leading urban kids who have never walked on grass into the wilderness is awesome. It's like going to Mars.

Here's the pressing thing: Fresh Air Fund has 200 kids they need to place in host families by the end of July. They need host families, or these kids can't go on summer vacation. If you can help them at all, please check out the page.

When I was a kid we had two FAF boys come up and live with us for two weeks fom NYC. It was great fun and we all learned a lot.

One thing I learned was some really good swear words. For a 12 yo living in a Very Small Town in rural New England the value of a few choice words, as well as in-situ examples of how to use them, cannot be over-emphasized.

I was a camp counselor (for lack of a better, more concise description) for this kind of thing some 10 years ago. The kids were from a bad part of Cincinnati and we took'em (for a week and for no cost to them) up to Amish country. 1 or 2 per group (of 12) really loved it and actually expressed gratitude; the others just wanted to play basketball and/or Nintendo all week, and really hated (amost resented) the experience. Kinda sad. You can lead a horse to water, as they say... I hope this thing has much more success.

John Brownlee's involved with this? Then how can we be sure these kids aren't just being taken into the woods and fed to some hideous Elder God?

I have very good intelligence that Mr. Brownlee will be in Europe during August so no inner-city children will be harmed in this picture.

But, as John said, the real headline of this is:

"We have over 200 children scheduled for Fresh Air trips this summer and need your help to host or find hosts!"

Thanks, Xeni, for posting this -- the Fresh Air Fund kids thank you!

"I have very good intelligence that Mr. Brownlee will be in Europe during August so no inner-city children will be harmed in this picture."

Or, at least, that's my alibi.

[i]the others just wanted to play basketball and/or Nintendo all week, and really hated (a;most resented) the experience. Kinda sad. You can lead a horse to water, as they sad[/i]

Well, put yourself in their shoes. You're a poor kid who's been targeted by some social worker-type (who you probably don't choose or particularly like to see). They sign you up for this program and before you know it you're whisked off to a farm with a bunch of "rich" adults who feel they're being charitable by making you go on hikes and stuff.

I mean, from a kid's perspective, I can totally see why they'd resent such a program, the same way many kids resent being sent off to summer camp when they'd rather just play WoW all summer. "Nature" is an aesthetic - some people tolerate it, some people romanticize it, and some people are irritated by it. For some reason, kids seem to gravitate more towards the latter.

Not that it's a bad program, but it's definitely a "parent minded" program, like one of those things that parents love and go to trouble to expose their kids to, who really couldn't care less and are irritated by all the pressure to enjoy something that they find boring/stupid.

We also had two FAF kids stay with us over 3 years. We generally had a good time - but even as a kid I remember being surprised at the way that the FAF more or less ignored the race / class issues involved.

Re-locating (primarily) African American children in (rich) white homes in the countryside is not a viable method for making a difference in lives of these children. They need what their parents need - a living wage, health care, and respect.

There's a ugly tradition that I feel is present here - 'liberal racism' - acting charitably to others but being ignorant to the larger issues involved.

As the camp counselor mentions above - there are really issues of resentment from the children themselves toward these kind of programs. While I had plenty of positive experiences with the children who stayed with us - they also had a lot of resentment - and in reflection, they were right to feel that way, I think.

We hosted a FAF kid a few years ago. our first. He had been in the program for five years and had been with five different families, but we didn't know this until after it was too late. The first thing he did was go through our sons' room and pick out which of their toys he was going to bring home with him. Breakfast turned in to his lecturing us on how one gets worms from strawberry jam, and dinners about how Asians eat dogs and all manner of disgusting things (we're a mixed race family). Another host family brought their guest over for a swim, and he made ours seem like a walk in the park.

I love the idea of this program, but there are some kids who would benefit more, I think, from a structured camp setting with trained counselors. It's got to be harsh going from an innercity projects to the land of the white people to the north, knowing you've got to go back while this other world exists.

It was really sad.

I grew up in a rural area surrounded by farms, and I can't believe there are programs intended to expose kids to that sort of hell. Seriously, when I was a kid I always wondered why there wasn't a program to take rural kids and have them spend a summer in a cosmopolitan metropolis.

I used to do something similar in the UK with inner city kids from Salford - taking them to the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District.
I'll never forget them freaking out insanely over sheep and cows. They could never get their heads around the connection between cows, milk, cheese and burgers. It had never occurred to me before that I'd have to try to explain that most of a bigmac came from a cow (ok so bigmacs are probably a bad example!).
One kid didn't realise that a burger was meat and therefore came from an ex-living creature and most of them were grossed out when they realised where milk came from.
Fun times.

In Britain in WWII, many urban children were evacuated to the countryside because the cities were being bombed. Many of these kids had never seen the countryside before, and although I am sure it was a mixed experience for many, I know it was a life-long positive experience for some. While travelling through the English countryside I've met a fair few elderly people revisiting the rural havens where they stayed from 1939 to 1944. The ones I met spoke of how despite the difficult times, it turned them on to a persisting appreciation of nature and of different kinds of life-styles.

in brazil the urban poor are given 'stimulus' checks. the program has worked well and is sometimes referred to as the brazillian miracle since it has raised a lot of people to middle class status.

#9

That's why children aren't allowed to make life decisions for themselves, and instead are subjected to the decisions of their parents. Theoretically, their parents know what's best for them, even if it isn't necessarily what the kid wants to do.

Glad you guys are posting about this! Being from around the area of Sharp Reservation I know first hand just how wonderful the Fresh Air Fund programs are! I've worked with them on different projects and they create wonderful opportunities for kids. The kids are treated to a once in a lifetime experience and there are more smiles on that mountain than at any theme park in the world!

Personally, I think it would benefit society more if you could give low-income rural kids a chance to experience life in the big city.

These kids don't need farms. They need laptops.

These kids don't need farms. They need fathers.

I think that to truly enjoy nature, you need time to ajust and "slow down" the thinking process. Moving to Canada's arctic was like that for me -- it took a while before I could enjoy it, but now I love living here.

This isn't to say that people who spend time in nature are dumber -- in fact, quite the opposite from my experience. With so much silence and a respite from from contant writing, imagery, noise, people, etc, a person can "hear themselves think."

I fear short camps like this don't really allow for that effect to happen -- the kids experience a quick "deceleration" from the city and it's over before they go back. Their conclusion is that nature is boring.

Still, that being said, this is a fantastic idea for a program. Just let the children see a chicken -- surprizingly, it's a profound experience for most children who've never seen one.

These programs seem like an especially good idea given some of the findings in immune system research and contact with farm animals (and I would think other forms of nice dirty nature as well).

Now I wonder whether regular attendees of fresh air fund events have lower rates of asthma and similar problems. Anyone looking for a thesis study?

No thank you- While the intention is good little benefit is to be had in the communities which you bring some of these inner city kids. They are not all looking to experience fishing at the creek or petting goats and feeding pigs.

I've seen the wrong kids brought to virgin towns and villages before- the result was "Harlem goes to Little House on the Prairie- and leaves all their trash behind for local tax payers to clean up after."

Not everyone is like this but then again not all programs operate as tightly as the those mentioned in the article.

The New York City Kids Would Be Better Off Staying Out In the Country For Good! And Not Just To Escape The Air Pollution But The Soul Pollution Too!

Apollo - (I)s (Y)ou (C)aps (L)ock (B)roken?

These comments, so many of which are of the "keep those dirty ruffians out of our homes" variety make me incredibly sad.

All I know about the Fresh Air Fund is that it changed my grandfather's life, when he was a poor kid from Hell's Kitchen and had never seen the woods before. he ended up moving to a rural area as an adult, and his kids had a pretty idyllic childhood of hiking and camping and fishing in the crick, and I seriously doubt the course of their lives would have gone that way without that initial Fresh Air Fund experience. When nephews and cousins from the city came out to visit and go camping, some of them had never seen stars in the night sky before.

So, some kids taken out of their comfort zone act rude and obnoxious. So what? they're children. It doesn't mean that the experience won't have a lifelong effect. Plenty of rich kids do the same, and worse.

I don't even know how to respond to this:

"I've seen the wrong kids brought to virgin towns and villages before- the result was "Harlem goes to Little House on the Prairie- and leaves all their trash behind for local tax payers to clean up after."

Virgin Towns and Villages? Dirtied with "trash" by "the wrong kids" from Harlem? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you have any idea how transparently Freudian (not to mention chock full of coded racism) that sentence is? Where have you seen this? Show me a "virgin" town or village (is that shorthand for "town with no Black people"?) that has turned into a filthy outpost of Harlem because an eight year old from the Projects spent two weeks on a farm there. Give me a break.

Thanks, Bookyloo, for saying everything I wanted to say.

I confess that I would have liked to be whisked away for a weekend in New York with Andy Warhol and Joe Dallesandro when I was twelve. But, no. I got to clean fish and shit in an outhouse instead. We need urban adventures for gay kids.

FriedDylan,

You seem to have more than one BoingBoing account. Drop us a note and let us know which one you'd like to have reactivated.

1 or 2 per group (of 12) really loved it and actually expressed gratitude; the others just wanted to play basketball and/or Nintendo all week, and really hated (amost resented) the experience. Kinda sad.

1 or 2 out of 12 doesn't sound that bad. How many kids would express gratitude if you provided them with free math tutoring? How many kids would express gratitude if you made fresh vegetables freely available in their school? How many kids express gratitude about going to school in the first place? I think most would rather play basketball or Nintendo.

The key to programs like the FAF is to make opportunities available to people who otherwise wouldn't have them. Not every opportunity is going to change every kid's life. But these kinds of things absolutely can be life-changing for some participants.

I'm not that familiar with the FAF and have no idea whether it does a good or bad job at screening kids or training hosts to maximize the effectiveness of the program and deal with issues of latent racism and classism. But even if most kids seem unappreciative, it can still have a positive impact on their lives.

Wow, Mikah, "But even if most kids seem unappreciative, it can still have a positive impact on their lives," is such an awesome way of putting it! Wow!

B dagger lee, you're welcome. :)

FWIW, I think it's quite possible that my grandpa's FAF host family remembered him as an obnoxious little tough guy who moped and fought and had bad table manners--plus he already had a shoplifting record by then. But I would imagine the impact of that kind of experience sinks in little by little over time, even if the kids don't behave in an "appreciative" manner immediately.

And Antinous's suggestion of a city weekend for rural gay kids is a great one. Good luck getting any funding for that.

Why would it have to be designated gay? I've worked at several summer camps and the kids don't seem to segregate themselves that way (or if they've even thoroughly decided one way or the other). Plus, it's not like hooking up would really be encourage no matter what orientation. Just seems like that would cause more confusion not less.

These programs can be really important for kids. Some members of my family have been involved in something similar (www.brantwood.org/) for many years and I have sponsored a kid or two over the years.

I am a bit concerned by the comments contending that it's rich white people taking in poor black kids, thats a really sad generalization. When I was a little kid in western Massachusetts the 2 closest farms to our house were multi racial families and I have never met a rich farmer, successful yes but rich no.

Regardless, I think it is never a bad thing to spend time with people who are different than you, even if you think the experience is lame, or stupid or wonderful, it opens your mind to the idea that there is more to life than you immediate bubble.

I am a bit concerned by the comments contending that it's rich white people taking in poor black kids, thats a really sad generalization.

Please note that I said 'primarily' and (rich) to qualify my statement. What rich is is a matter of interpretation - rich in this sense is someone with enough free time, money & energy and will to take on an extra child. Rich in America, can be middle class, depending on your perspective.

The class and race issues involved in this program are quite real - the fact that they have been articulated as concerns by past host families is worth giving some consideration.

and yes - a diversity of experience, culture, and setting is a good thing - for all people - not just children.

Real change requires more than charitable acts which ignore structural facts. The parents of these children are not 'low-income' or 'underpaid' - they are exploited. Their life expectancy is among the lowest in the industrialized world.

I love the natural aesthetic as well. But I feel these ethical issues *must* be considered when evaluating the fresh air fund, its social meaning value and purpose.

#1 Wikipedia ain't difficult buddy.

"In 1877, the Reverend Willard Parsons, minister of a small rural parish in Sherman, Pennsylvania, asked members of his congregation to provide country vacations as volunteer host families for children from New York City tenements. This was the beginning of the tradition. By 1884, Reverend Parsons was writing about the fund for the New York Tribune, and the number of children served grew. In 2006, close to 10,000 New York City children experienced the joys of summertime in Friendly Towns and at five Fund camps in upstate New York. When the New York Herald Tribune went out of business in 1966, the New York Times took over sponsorship."

From what I can tell, this is a really good program. I think the 2% of kids that actually get something out if it is more than enough to justify its cause.

This makes me wish I HAD a farm or even a somewhat rural home so I could host. Alas, unless you consider suburbia to be rural, I'm out of the potential hosting picture.

Hey - teenagers and kids are what they are: still figuring out how to get along in the world, and how it works. The more varied the experiences they can get, the better. Invariably, some will NOT be happy with rural life. But others will find it interesting at worst. I'd call that a success either way. At least it was different, which is more than many of us can say about our own summers while growing up.

I'd have done pretty much anything as a kid, to have gotten the chance to spend even a weekend on a real, working farm.

I am not the original anon poster, but I think that most people commenting here are missing the valid point she/he makes (except for bookyloo).

Why is everyone eliding the race issue? While I am sure that not 100% of the inner city kids are black, I bet my bottom dollar that most of them are (at least in my experience with the FAF).

And it is not only farming families that host these kids -- it is any family that lives in a "rural" area.

Clearly, all children should be exposed to as many opportunities and types of people as possible. The problem that can arise with a program like FAF though, is that the host families aren't aware of their own latent racism, no matter how well intentioned they may be in participating in the program.

I can't help but think of the kids' parents left in the city. What new opportunities do they get to experience? How can they integrate this FAF experience into their own lives? How about the host families -- do they get training on race relations?

It just seems to me that many of the posters here are only seeing it from one perspective: the host family doing good by the poor city kid. It's simply too narrow and excludes the larger concerns of racism and inequity rife throughout the country by letting well-to-do (and most often, but of course not always, white) families off the hook for initiating any real social change.

Antinous

I love your comment about the need for inversion of this model.

I knew kids in my hometown who had never been to a city and who rarely made it out of town. We made it into Boston a few times a year, but other folks never did.

I certainly would have loved to have spent 2 weeks with a city family doing city things. City living was totally alien to me as a child.

P

Interesting article,good posts.
I grew up in semi rural Scotland (farms and coal mines)but had helped out in farms since I was about 7(lambing season,sheep dipping etc)and remember being pretty pissed off having to do this,but,In retrospect I am aware that these experiences gave me confidence and an ability to talk to and relate to people that I would not normally meet or have social contact with.
I am now fully/partialy urbanised,but the skill set I gained has stood me in good stead,having helped with the lambs at my mate's farm this spring.Good times ,up to yer oxters in blood and shit,fears and trauma,but lovely gabolling lambs a few minutes later.Invaluable life experience,adult or child.
Antinious - Sorry you didn't get to meet Andy and Little Joe -You could have been a child Superstar ;)

i remember years ago in connecticut when they had a similar program for inner city kids. on one memorable outing they took a bunch of kids to hammonassett state park which is a state beach on long island sound. they then let the kids wade in the surf. the unfortunate part is, the people who ran the program didn't know the bluefish were running. bluefish are large, tasty fish that travel in large schools and eat, eat, eat. they also have nasty teeth.
when the kids started yelling and running out of the water they found out about the teeth part. the program leaders had unwittingly "chummed" for blues with inner city kids.
oopsy.

Other Anonymous guy. I can't figure out if you're serious or if you've written a very effective parody of foolish racial stereotyping. Assuming you're serious, most rural families with farms are hardly rolling in dough. And, while it make come as a terrible shock to you, black people live on farms too. I know, it's so weird! I mean, what are they doing out there with all those stupid rednecks? And what's wrong with them that they can't even detect all that icky latent racism oozing around the place?

Anyway, I suspect that many of those rural black families, horrific as their daily existence must be, would have far more in common with their white neighbors than they would with some random city kids who happen to have a similar skin color. And since exposing kids to people who think and live a bit differently is the whole point here, it all works out quite nicely.

Response to #42 (despite your sarcasm):
I don't know about every black farmer out there, but at least these ones at the National Black Farmers Association
http://www.blackfarmers.org/
feel some of that "icky latent racism" and are trying to something about it.

My comment wasn't involved with "foolish racial stereotyping," rather it was concerned with actually discussing the issue of racism, which I think is too often ignored on this site (at least in the comments section).

The one day that I played hooky in High School, I took the train into Boston and went to the Museum of Fine Arts. Small towns can get quite old.

I'm super late to the party, but had two things to add.

First, rural is defined fairly loosely. When I was a kid, families in my area took kids and I lived in Westchester. You don't have to be living on a farm or anything to do this.

Second, many adults were deeply influenced by their summer experiences. I was a very nerdy and awkward kid and getting out of my hometown and going to summer camp allowed me not to be the perpetually picked little girl I was at home, if only for a month or so every year. Realizing that there might be a future where I would have friends and fit in without hiding who I am was priceless.

This program is not meant as a panacea for urban poverty but to give inner city kids the same chance as middle class kids get to go out and experience something different in the summer. To leave the block. To play in dirt. To meet new people. Just because it doesn't radically alter their disadvantage doesn't make it worthless.

Well, "The Fresh Air Fund" rather eliminates MY particular area (San Fernando Valley), lol! That is one thing we have precious little of. Good point though. I know I certainly got the impression that the sponsors were looking for something a bit further from suburbia than I could provide.