Now here’s a really good idea. Fishing as therapy for dysfunctional adolescents. Honestly – we’re not being sarcastic. Londonist thinks it is a splendid scheme.
The initiative is called Get Hooked on Fishing, and has been operating with great success in different areas around the country: now a scheme has been funded just outside London at Darenth.
Fishing is known for its therapeutic effects – the peace and quiet and sense of oneness with nature are hard to beat, and then there is a sense of real focus, skill and of course of achievement once you actually land something. And all those hours waiting for a nibble can be spent chatting creatively with your piscatorial mentor.
Truants, the excluded and bog basic yobs have all benefited from a spot of angling, and not only does it seem to lead to an improvement in their behaviour, they actually enjoy it:
“It feels good when you catch a fish. You think, I really did that, then you coach another kid to
catch a fish……they catch a fish because you coached them and that feels even better.”This is a simple and rewarding programme, and best of all it is funded largely from charitable pots of money (unlike those batty ideas of a decade or so ago which saw tearaways being pampered with luxury holidays at the expense of tax-payers).
So next time you see a bunch of bored or menacing teenagers skulking around, tell them to Go Fish. Well, you could try....
Photo courtesy of hddod’s flickr stream.
