Posted by Rachel on: 01.14.2008 /
In the Fall 2007 issue of Creation Care magazine, Larry Schweiger of the National Wildlife Federation writes about the importance of outdoor play time for children. The article was entitled “Leave No Child Indoors: Time Spent Outdoors Shapes Character, Health and Environmental Attitudes.”
My mother would often say that I lived outdoors and I suspect that many of you spent a great deal of your time outdoors too. My brothers and I roamed for hours across the hills of Northern Allegheny County, climbing trees, building forts, and constructing dams in the creeks…
Researchers in such places as Chicago and Boston are studying how the nationwide childhood obesity epidemic may cause shorter life-spans for the next generation. They conclude that, while we have enjoyed increases in expected lifespan for several decades, the new lack of childhood activity and its extra pounds can lead to adult-onset diabetes and can actually shorten average lifespan from three to five years.
Parents have become unnecessarily more fearful, though outdoor “stranger danger” is nothing compared to indoor threats. The risk of kidnapping by a stranger is one to two chances in a million. Most sexual assaults on children are from adults they already know. And yet, the risk of a child communicating with a sexual predator online is one in five…
The reality of the world we live in today is that children are more at risk for predation by strangers they meet in a chat room than by strangers at the park. Spending so much time in the screen space rather than the green space isn’t something we should encourage.
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Comment by: Staci
1 01/14/08 7:49 PM | Comment Link |I didn’t spend time indoors by choice much as a child - at least before about age 13. My cousins lived next door and we had other kids in the neighborhood, so there was always someone to play with. We biked, climbed trees, swam, picked berries, played sports, caught tadpoles, made up games, looked for special rocks in the rock pile, built forts, made treasure maps… I definitely think it had a positive impact on my health, character, and environmental attitudes. There are things a person gets from a direct connection to nature - and from connecting with others in nature - that cannot be replicated indoors. Such time also tends to be unstructured and (at least somewhat) unsupervised, so kids must learn to make decisions and be creative.
Is it less safe outdoors? Hmm… well, the street near where I grew up has a lot more traffic than it did then, so there is a danger in that. And with a rise in population in this area, crime rises in total quantity though per capita it isn’t much different than in my childhood. Some things are actually safer. Have you been to a newer playground? Wow, not the steel and/or aluminum rusty death traps we played on! And no one told me I shouldn’t climb trees (even after breaking my arm sliding out of one.) But I’ve had others tell me I shouldn’t let my son climb trees because he might get hurt. I think such things are low risk and high reward. It is crazy to rule out every activity that has risk. What a horrible way to live!
It is easy to get sucked into seeing danger everywhere. But it is important to look at facts rather than listening to tales of horror until you are paralized by unfounded fears. Especially when he was younger - and I was a newer mom - it was hard not to give in to those pressures and assume I was wrong. I’ve had to get used to having some people look at me like I’m crazy because I let my son do some “outdoorsy” stuff. When they tell me about the danger lurking - accidental or criminal - I just say I won’t rob him of his childhood and I think those things are very unlikely to happen.
We live in a fairly active/outdoorsy community. I don’t spend as much time as I’d like now that I have to be a grown up and I think that is true of many people. Looking at my son’s classmates, I can say that it is pretty clear that the majority do not live an active life. That becomes more clear when he has friends over from the activities they choose. Some have even thought I was punishing them when I suggested playing outside on a beautiful day. I’ve also noticed a lack of imagination in those who haven’t had much unstructured outdoor play. And sometimes, especially with boys, some misplaced anger and agression that a good bike ride around the neighborhood or game of tag could do wonders for.
There is a pretty good book on this topic called “Last Child in the Woods.” I read it while lounging outside 2 summers ago :-)
Comment by: Doreen A Mannion
2 01/15/08 4:40 PM | Comment Link |I lived outdoors as a child. I think this is one of the reasons I love the outdoors today.
It is less safe outside today for some children. Drivers drive faster. People disregard red lights and crosswalks. People are ruder. People don’t know their neighbors; when I was a kid, if Mrs. Jones saw me on her street, she knew I wasn’t supposed to be there, and let me know it.
Children in my community do not spend enough time outdoors. In fact, I would hardly know there are children in my community if I did not see them waiting for the bus. They’re inside, online, playing video games, and watching TV. I don’t think these activities are evil, but should be balanced with outside time.
Comment by: Rachel
3 01/15/08 8:49 PM | Comment Link |I didn’t either, Staci. My brothers and I spent tons of time outdoors, especially in the summer. We rode bikes, roller skated, built forts from scrap lumber, jumped in piles of leaves, ran through the sprinkler, and picked blackberries till we were covered in scratches and purple stains. We would go inside to get a drink of water or a bandaid, then head back out again. There was a big empty field behind our house and a filbert orchard at the end of the street so we had tons of space to play. I lived on a dead end street with lots of kids and we would play basketball or four square in the street. About once an hour, somebody would yell, “Car!” and we would all get out of the road till they passed. :-) My dad would also take us on lots of hikes and “explores” and camping trips.
My outdoor time definitely had a positive impact on me. My daughter hasn’t spent as much time outside as I did and that is something I regret, although she does love hiking and camping. Reading that article reminded me that we really need to set stricter limits on the computer time.
I totally agree, Staci. Peoples’ perception of danger is very distorted by all the media coverage of crime. I thought it was very interesting that the article stated that the risk of kidnapping by a stranger is one to two chances in a million. And yet parents perceive that as a major threat.
It was the same way in our neighborhood, Doreen. All the adults kept an eye on all the kids. I knew that if another adult gave my parents a bad report on me, I’d be in big trouble. But these days a lot of parents get mad when other people correct their kids. A couple of times I’ve seen kids in my neighborhood fighting and I’ve hollered at them to knock it off. Anna thinks that is totally embarrassing, but I’m not going to stand by and let kids beat each other up on my street.
Comment by: Staci
4 01/16/08 12:21 PM | Comment Link |I heard a comedian the other day talking about this. He said they would try not to go inside because your parent might make you stay in. He also said when it got dark he would go in and his dad would ask if he was in for the night. He’d say, “nope, just getting a flashlight.” And I SO remember doing that!
I agree with Doreen, the indoor activities aren’t bad, but need some balance to be healthy and create an even maturation process. Too much computer/tv/video seems to lead to kids “growing up too fast” but still not having mature decision making abilities or strong bodies.