I’ve just finished reading Kids These Days by Will Dobud and Nevin Harper and keep finding myself thinking about it and going back to reread sections that really landed. Will Dobud and Nevin Harper are both experts in their fields, counsellors, researchers, and respected voices in adventure therapy, outdoor education and child and youth practice. You can really feel both the practical experience and genuine care for young people throughout the book. The book explores the so-c

At My Summit ABTS, challenge by choice isn’t a catchphrase. It’s the way we work with young people across camps, day adventures, and Walk and Talk sessions. Challenge by choice means young people are invited to participate — not pushed, pressured, or coerced. It means their body, voice, and boundaries are respected. Support is offered, encouragement is present, but consent matters. This isn’t just good practice. In Queensland, it aligns directly with children’s rights and leg

At My Summit ABTS, feedback from young people is a deliberate and consistent part of every camp. At the end of each school holiday camp, we ask three simple questions: 1. What did you like about camp? 2. What did you not like about camp? 3. What would you change if you were the boss of My Summit ABTS? These questions are asked because we are clear with young people that their opinions matter and that their feedback can directly shape how our camps are designed and delivered.

Big feelings don’t come with instructions. For many young people we work with emotions arrive fast, loud and often without warning. Telling a child to calm down rarely helps especially for kids with trauma histories, neurodivergence or anxiety. What does help, is working with them to develop tools they can use when their body starts to feel overwhelmed. At My Summit ABTS we spend a lot of time outdoors with kids walking setting noticing moving. Through our Walk and Talk sessi

At My Summit ABTS, we’ve always known what science backs up, that spending time in nature changes us. We see it with every single camp we do. Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix and host of The 3-Day Effect podcast, explores what happens when people spend uninterrupted time in nature. She found that after about three days, our brains start to shift — stress levels drop, creativity lifts, and attention improves. In her words, “We don’t experience natural environments e

At My Summit ABTS, we see this every day — the impact that nature has on young people. Everyone responds in different ways, some young people don’t love parts of nature, the mozzies, too much sand, drop toilets, but one thing we always notice is the positive impact nature has over time. Nature has a way of meeting young people where they’re at. For some young people who have grown up with trauma, instability, or constant stress, being outdoors offers something powerful — a sp