I vaguely recall that we went to the zoo and needed a parents permission slip when I was a senior.

It's the most no-brainer shit to direct their energy to something. If you took them to a plot of land, turned on some music, set up some tents, got them catering, and called it hole digging day, you'd get emails 5 years later talking about how that day was the best day ever and how it changed their life.