“Emily, put that disgusting thing down!” shouts Emily’s mom as she shoos away the furry caterpillar off her daughter’s hand. “You don’t know where that thing has been!”
“Josh, come down from that tree right now! I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Honey, I don’t want you playing in that mud. Why don’t you come inside? I’ll put your favorite movie on. I know you’ll like that!”
“Hey guys, there is no playing in the woods. Why don’t you play with the swing set instead?”
I’m sure you’ve all heard all these statements before. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Are all these parents just being safety conscious? Can this safety mindset really cause more harm than good?
Well, my fellow anglers and hunters, it can.
Do you remember those good old days when every child in the neighborhood were outside having fun? Kids were riding their bikes, climbing trees, making forts, catching frogs, digging in the dirt, wadding in the creek, exploring the woods, etc…
Maybe you did these things as a child or you grew up in this kind of neighborhood. A neighborhood where kids were outside all day doing the above or playing ball on the streets and only going home when they heard their mother yelling, “Time to eat!”
The truth is this kind of scenario is disappearing very quickly. Why aren’t there more kids these days doing the very same things you loved to do as a child? Why aren’t there more kids playing outside? Where could all those kids be?
I’m going to let a 4th grade boy answer that question for you. (The answer is from author Richard Louv’s interview of thousands of children.)
“I like to play indoors better, cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”
More children today are spending more and more time indoors and less time outdoors than ever before.
Ticks, poison ivy, West Nile Virus, crime, kidnappers, over scheduling, snakes, and even wild animals that roam the woods are some of the common fears why too many kids are being kept indoors.
Unfortunately, a lot of these fears have been overly exaggerated by today’s media. And the result? Kids spend more time indoors.
Kids today are so plugged in that they are becoming unplugged from the great outdoors and nature.
A few years ago, an environmental study was conducted to explore nature experiences in childhood that led to awareness in environmentalism as an adult.
Check out what the study says:
“If you want your children to grow up to actively care about the environment, give them plenty of time to play in the wild before they’re 11 years old.
Although domesticated nature activities- caring for plants and gardens- also have a positive relationship to adult environment attitudes, their effects aren’t as strong as participating in such wild nature activities as camping, playing in the woods, hiking, walking, (and this website’s favorite…wait for it…) fishing and hunting.”
In addition, the study continues to say that “when children become truly engaged with the natural world at a young age, the experience is likely to stay with them in a powerful way- shaping their subsequent environmental path.”
You can read the full article here:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March06/wild.nature.play.ssl.html
For now, please keep an eye out for the series of articles that I will be writing about this growing epidemic that is affecting our youth today.
In the upcoming articles, I will be presenting the following:
1) The disturbing facts about why your child should spend more time outdoors in nature. And what happens if she/he doesn’t.
2) You’ll learn about the unbelievable benefits that results when your child experiences and plays in the outdoors.
3) You will learn of different ways that you can instill a lasting love of nature and the great outdoors in your child.
4) I will also be providing a list of helpful websites that are tackling this growing epidemic head on. These sites not only address the issue. They also provide you with some great ideas that you can do with your child to help combat this ever growing problem.
5) I will be posting some wonderful excerpts from Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.” I live by these excerpts. For me, I implement them in every area of my life. Ok, you got me. I implement them in every area of my kid’s life.
So until next time, my fellow hunters and anglers. Enjoy the great outdoors. And most importantly, keep on angling and hunting!
