have you ever even ben on a ropes course? were you that kid that cried for mommy the second you climbed the ladder? were you that spoiled city girl that got to the "hard part", gave up, and were left dangling there crying untill you grew some balls and finished it? were you the the fattass that passed out on the zipline from terror, thinking you were gonna break the thing?
This is not your typical ropes course.
I worked for 3 years at a wilderness school, so I know what I'm talking about. It is dangerous for a child to participate in a ropes course element blindfolded. That is the issue.
There is also the issue of
how CALO uses the ropes course, namely as a trust-building exercise. That certainly figures into the blindfolds as well. The whole alleged premise of CALO is to teach these kids how to have healthy interdependent relationships, and developing trust for others is a part of this.
What
choice do you have when you're up there on the ropes with a
blindfold on? CALO is forcing these kids to "trust"... much the same way Evergreen forces kids to "trust" while being smothered by their therapists. There's no getting away from them. Time-IN, not time-out, right?
What happens to the extreme introverts for whom such forced trust and closeness will never be natural? I fail to understand how coercion and pressure to move up in the levels can't help but impact some of these kids negatively in the long run.