The great outdoors is a majestic place, so why do today’s kids seem bored with it?

Being raised during the 60’s I reckon you can say I am part of the Vietnam Generation. Looking on Google they say it’s “Gen-X,” then comes the MTV Generation (1974-1983) and finally Gen-Y.

I may be a bit bias comparing my generation with generations that came afterward, but it sure seems many kids today are featherweights when it comes to sustaining energy during a full day in nature. Ouch.

Don’t get me wrong because I love kids. I have two of my own and over the years I have mentored a passel of kids, especially in the fishing realm. Even before I started part-time guiding people on their boats, ever so often friends of mine would call asking me to take their kids fishing.

Why? Usually they were too busy with their careers or simply didn’t have enough knowledge of the outdoors to do it themselves. That’s fine, though, because I get the biggest kick out of watching a youngster’s excitement when they hook into their first big fish.

Some are skittish about touching their catch, while others might consider sleeping with their prize catch if mom or dad would let them.

Oddly, the majority of these fish lovers are girls. Go figure.

Thinking back to my own childhood, I was so addicted to the ocean and outdoors my folks rarely saw me. I was up and out before dawn and wouldn’t come home until dark.

Granted we didn’t have computers or cell phones and only had two TV channels, so really, the outdoors was all that was left. As for fishing, I was lucky to have a dad that was passionate about this hobby. From the age of six, he would include me whenever he went offshore with his buddies. Out of his three male children, I was by far the most interested in angling.

Even during those offshore trips that usually started way before the sun rose, I was so into it that the idea of sleeping never crossed my mind during those 10 to 12 hour days. It was as if my adrenaline was in over drive. Even when the call came to reel the lines in and head home I would beg to all aboard to let me catch just one more fish.

Then one more and one more until they would rip the rod out of hands promising me that there would be other days to come.

So, what brought the subject of kids in the outdoors up? It was inspired by an offshore trip last Sunday aboard my friend Dan Cornell’s boat. Onboard we had both of Dan’s children, Miller, 11, Carlyle, 13, as well as Caroline Bullock, 9. Compared to many of the young kids, teens and such I take, Dan’s kids are ahead of the curve and overall are pretty accomplished anglers for their age.

Heading out to do some bottom fishing, the ocean could not have been nicer to us. It looked like a sheet of polished glass with nary a swell to upset the perfect day. Like so many kids these days, just as soon as we got out of cell phone range I noticed a touch of uneasiness among the kids.

What to do, what to do? With no electronics, sleep replaced their crutch. Maybe I have memory loss to a degree, but in the same situations way back then, sleep never once occurred to me.

Instead I would sit in the fighting chair mesmerized by flocks of flying fish scattering to the wind in the boat’s wake. Oh the things I saw — sea turtles, Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish, and manta rays airborne — it’s the best show ever made.

I know each kid is different, especially when it comes to fishing. The outdoors experience has taught me never to force it on these young minds. On this particular kids trip everything came together perfectly.

I found vermillion snapper in droves and though usually less than two or three pounds, these were monsters up to seven pounds. Perfect kid fish, not too strong but just right and did they have a ball. It was pretty darn hot that day but even with that they hung in there longer than most Gen-Y kids I take.

The point is this. Kids today just don’t seem to have staying power when outdoors. I blame it on computers, cell phones and all the crappy food available, but on those occasions when all the variables come together they love it.

The problem is they don’t do it enough to build up a passion for the outdoors like the generations before theirs.

I don’t fault the kids but rather the parents. It’s like out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Even if you moms and dads are not big outdoors fans, take some initiative and get your kids outside. You just might change their lives for the better for the rest of their days.