On the morning of June 12, 1978, 27 boys and 4 leaders from St. John's School in Ontario, set out on a canoeing expedition from the wharf at Timiskaming, Quebec, headed for James Bay along an old voyageurs' route. By evening the same day, all four canoes were overturned and floating aimlessly in the wind -- 12 boys and one leader were dead. The rest huddled over a weak fire at the base of a cliff, waiting for the light of morning, and rescue. So begins the story of the Lake Timiskaming tragedy, a tragedy that was quickly flashed around the world on the wire services and that struck fear into the heart of every parent. For who has not watched a child head off on an adventure with some misgivings? What is the right balance of safety and risk that we can live with? And does risk really build character as so many people believe?