The Couch potato generation

[Lyion]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 08_pf.html

Many Adults Worry Nature Is Disappearing From Children's Lives

By Donna St. George
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 19, 2007; A01

Linda Pelzman appreciates the beauty of the outdoor world, sometimes pulling her children into the yard to gaze at a full moon or peer into a dense fog. An educator and founder of a summer camp, she only wishes her enthusiasm was fully shared.

On a recent nature walk near her home in Gaithersburg, her younger son, 6, was unimpressed, pleading, "I just want to go back to civilization." Her older son, at 13, has made it clear he prefers PlayStation.

"Kids don't think about going outside like they used to, and unless there is some scheduled activity, I don't think they know what to do outdoors anymore," Pelzman said.

Pelzman's view is shared by a growing number of children's advocates, environmentalists, business executives and political leaders who fear that this might be the first generation of "indoor children," largely disconnected from nature.

Concerns about long-term consequences -- affecting emotional well-being, physical health, learning abilities, environmental consciousness -- have spawned a national movement to "leave no child inside." In recent months, it has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a "green hour" in each day.

Tomorrow 40 civic leaders -- representing several governors, three big-city mayors, Walt Disney Co., Sesame Workshop, DuPont, the gaming industry and others -- will launch a campaign to raise $20 million that will ultimately fund 20 initiatives across the country to encourage children to do what once seemed second nature: go outdoors.

"If we really want to make a difference in this area, we need a shift in the culture," said Larry Selzer, president of the Conservation Fund, which organized the alliance of leaders.

Advocates and researchers have been aware of the downturn in outdoor activity for a long time, and it has been documented by experts such as Sandra Hofferth, a family studies professor at the University of Maryland. From 1997 to 2003, Hofferth found, there was a decline of 50 percent, from 16 to 8 percent, in the proportion of children 9 to 12 who spent time in such outside activities as hiking, walking, fishing, beach play and gardening. Organized sports were not included as an outdoor activity in the study, which was based on detailed time diaries.

Hofferth's study also showed an increase in computer play time for all children and in time spent on television and video games for those ages 9 to 12. And it found increases in sleep time, study time and reading time.

The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, "Last Child in the Woods," and its author, Richard Louv.

Coining the term "nature deficit disorder," Louv has argued that indoor kids are more prone to a range of childhood problems, including obesity, depression and attention disorders. He contends that they miss out on the spiritual, emotional and psychological benefits of exposure to the wonders of nature, including reduced stress and improved cognitive development, creativity and cooperative play.

"I'm not saying that a child who grows up without nature is going to have terrible problems," Louv said, "but if you look at the studies that show what nature does give kids, it's unfortunate that so many children are missing out on that."

With this generation of children, he said, "I think were going to pay a price if we don't turn this around."

His views have touched a nerve -- in an era when people tell stories of backyard play sets that are barely used and children who are so accustomed to playing video games that they use their thumbs to ring doorbells or dial phones.

At the National Wildlife Federation, Kevin Coyle, vice president for education, said Louv's book attached a name and a framework to a phenomenon everyone knew existed but no one had quite articulated.

Coyle's group, which publishes Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard magazines, looked for a way to take the next step. It started promoting the "green hour" -- and the idea that children need a casual hour outdoors each day in the same way they need a good night's sleep or a vitamin.

At least 30 grass-roots efforts have been started across the country in the past two years -- focusing on legislation, nature centers, nature-based preschools, community open space and other matters, said Amy Pertschuk, managing director of the Children & Nature Network, which was co-founded by Louv.

In Connecticut, state officials launched a No Child Left Inside program last year that, among other things, allows foster families to use state parks free and encourages families to visit parks through a contest called the Great Park Pursuit.

All of this is so new that most parents don't know it exists -- although many have been quietly waging their own battles against the demise of unstructured outdoor time.

Jolene Ivey, a mother of five sons in Cheverly and a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates, said she makes a point of buying her children outdoor toys and games -- a trampoline for a Christmas gift, some squirt guns for the summer.

She has not bought video game systems. Her 9-year-old's preoccupation with the computer is enough trouble. When she walks into her house, she said, she does not even check to see whether he is playing on it. She just says, "Troy, get off the computer!"

Experts suggest a major factor in the decline of outdoor time is parental fears about leaving children unattended -- aggravated by excessive media coverage of horrific crimes.

Changes in family life have also had an influence: more mothers in the workforce, more structured playtime, more organized sports. Fewer hours are left for kids to slip out the back door and play hide-and-seek, catch fireflies, skip stones, create imaginary worlds around makeshift forts.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, children 8 to 18 spend 6.5 hours a day on television, electronic games, computers, music and other media, with many multitasking electronically. For many, the virtual world has become a more familiar setting than the natural one.

In Great Falls, the Hefner family has a back yard of more than an acre, a green swath of kid heaven at the edge of Great Falls National Park. Three years ago, George Hefner, a general contractor who knows how to work a saw, built a two-story "treehouse" that stands on the ground between two leafy maples.

He imagined his children fixing it up, sleeping there.

But 10-year-old Paul cannot remember the last time he played in the little house. "Animals live out there, you know," he told his mother one day. His older sister Sarah, 16, admits that she has never set foot in it. "What would I do in a treehouse?" she asked.

No one in the family uses the yard very often, said Paula Hefner, Paul's mom. After school, there is the duty of homework and the lure of the computer, the television, instant messaging, text messaging, iPods, Legos.

"The kids are all physically active in sports, but when they come home, it's inside time," Paula Hefner said.

That changed two months ago, when Paul started hiking with his Boy Scout troop and his parents noticed how much he liked it. Mom and son decided to start hiking in the nearby national park every Monday, when Paul's school lets out early.

"I like seeing the falls and stuff," Paul said.

Paula said, "It's a great time, not just for the green time" but also for the time together.

Their experience fits with what may need to happen more broadly -- a deliberate approach to reconnecting children with the outdoors, Louv said.

Marguerite Kondracke, president of America's Promise Alliance, which calls itself the nation's largest organization of groups focused on children, said the change in how children spend their leisure time is more dramatic than most people recognize and can lead to problems such as obesity and depression.

"I believe this has happened so gradually," she said, "that we as adults don't realize what's taken place. . . . I think we as a nation need to wake up to this."

[Martrae]

If you have a portable GPS then geocaching is a great way to get the kids outdoors while you do something as a family.

Someone also just gave us a really nice telescope, so we've been keeping the kids up late to show them the stars, visible planets and the moon. They're loving it.

[Gaazy]

My kids will definitely be outdoors a lot. When I was young thats all I did. We didnt even have cable, just channels 3-13 on 1 TV rofl. They got cable and stuff like that once i was older, but I still never really watched it. From the time I was like 7 or 8 id go wander off in the woods behind the house and build forts and tree houses and shit with the kids around me. Ahh good times.

I dont know if parents are getting smarter or more strict, but my neighbor has kids that are 13 or 14 and those boys cant leave the damn house without holding their moms hand it seems like.

I would have been a miserable fucking kid if i was to be like all the kids now that have 5 different nintendos and digital cable with 019345353 channels that didnt have anywhere to go play outside

[Lyion]

Same here, Gaazy. There was an unwritten rule that if my parents saw me, I was assigned work to do. I was far away from home, and usually off in the middle of nowhere, from early on.

I think parents are overexposed to bad news and overprotective of their kids. This is coupled with kids having entertainment setups we couldn't fathom when I was a kid, so they aren't really interacting with people and doing outdoor stuff as much.

[Zanchief]

"The world is ending because kids these days are so much different from when I was young."
--Some dude from the 1800s.

[runamonk]

Same here, Gaazy. There was an unwritten rule that if my parents saw me, I was assigned work to do. I was far away from home, and usually off in the middle of nowhere, from early on.

LOL same here Lyion. I cannot count the number of times I would forget and blurt out "I'm bored!!!!" and tada, I would end up picking weeds or picking up rocks or something equally painful ugh. haha.

[Gaazy]

And hell, im only 22 and things have changed THAT much in the past 15 years. My little cousins are 3 and 7 and they have more toys right now already than I had the entire time I was a kid. Not that my parents didnt do well and couldnt have bought me that stuff (mom was an ICU nurse and dad was the purchasing director of a major coal operation, owned by my cousin), thats just the way it was I never even asked for more toys. I could entertain myself out in the woods or around the neighborhood for days at a time without any kinds of toys and shit whatsoever.

And yeah, same as you Lyion, if I stayed around the house for too long I was put to work hehe.

[Gaazy]

Haha Zenn, thats one of the jobs Dad made me do too! Picking rocks out of the yard sucked I come from a family of old coal miners and shit, thats all they know is work. If I had time to be sittin in the house bored watching TV, I had time to be doing something productive, so i stayed the hell away~

[Ginzburgh]

You have to take into consideration Gaazy, that not everyone lives on several acres or is surrounded by woods. People that live on main roads for instance, can't just let their children wander around outside.

[Gaazy]

But theres still got to be SOMEthing out there better for them to do than sitting inside playing video games and watching tv for hours on end

[Ginzburgh]

You're not looking at the situation objectively. I'll paint a better picture:

Kids live here.



Your first reaction would be to say, "then move to provide a better life for your kids" when that is not always an option. There are about 10 times more kids that live in places like this than places that are surrounded by woods, quaint neighborhoods and plenty of outdoor stuff to do.

I know that's not really what the article is about but it seems like the general consensus in this thread is, "they should just go outside like I did" when that is just not an option for a lot of people.

[Gaazy]

Im not arguing with you. I understand that it is just not an option for a lot of people to just move around to better areas whenever they please, and I understand that some of those neighborhoods are very dangerous. You dont have to paint me a picture.

I still refuse to believe there is not better things they could teach the kids to do with their time than staring at a TV or whatever. Reading a book once in a while? Playing basketball or something at a community center?

I could be way off target here, as ive never lived in a city like that. But still yet, theres gotta be somethin better for them to do

[10sun]

There is no place in NYC that is more than 30 minutes away from a park.

If those parks are not safe, lead an initiative to clean up the crime.

Rise above adversity, do not let it become your excuse.

[Arlos]

Indeed, how do parents with kids in a high-rise apartment building send them to "play outside"? Doesn't even have to be a bad neighborhood. Someone, say, living in a luxury apartment in the San Francisco Financial District at 5000 a month rent couldn't send their kids outside to play either, as there is no real "outside" to send them to. Just hyper-busy city streets full of who-knows-what elements.

-Arlos

[Ginzburgh]

Like anything else, it all depends on where you live.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a quaint neighborhood with a ton of kids, so I rarely sat inside.

[Ginzburgh]

There is no place in NYC that is more than 30 minutes away from a park.

If those parks are not safe, lead an initiative to clean up the crime.

Rise above adversity, do not let it become your excuse.

Wandering the streets of NYC? Tell that to the parents of a 10 year old kid.

[Arlos]

Or hell, a 6, 7 or 8 year old. Yeah, right, a parent is going to let a 7 year old travel 30 minutes through the streets of NYC to get to a park by themselves, no matter how safe that park might be. Suuuuure they will.

-Arlos

[Ginzburgh]

And no park in NYC is safe for a 6,7 or 8 year old. And they also shouldn't be responsible for "leading an initiative to clean up the crime."

[Martrae]

Well, hell, let's just give up then.

[Ginzburgh]

Or how about start looking at it objectively. It's not as black and white as:

Inside = bad
Outside = good

[Gaazy]

Christ, all I meant was, there has to be something better for these kids to do. It doesnt have to be going outside and playing or whatever, just something better for them to do with their time than rotting and getting getting fat on the couch. Is that such a fucking wrong thought to have here guys?

[Zanchief]

Or how about start looking at it objectively. It's not as black and white as:

Inside = bad
Outside = good

I don't think the problem is as serious as people think. Parks are still full of kids every time I go by them. It's just more doomsday crap from the board alarmists.

[Ginzburgh]

Christ, all I meant was, there has to be something better for these kids to do. It doesnt have to be going outside and playing or whatever, just something better for them to do with their time than rotting and getting getting fat on the couch. Is that such a fucking wrong thought to have here guys?

Judging by the first line of your first post in this thread, it looked like that was your answer to solve the problem.

My kids will definitely be outdoors a lot. When I was young thats all I did.

And if they are inside, chances are they are sitting. If they are reading shakespear at 5 years old they are probably sitting. So the "rot" factor doesn't change much.

I guess the only answer is for parents that live in an urban environment to take more of an active role. Bring them to parks, get them involved in afterschool programs etc.

[Ginzburgh]

I don't think the problem is as serious as people think. Parks are still full of kids every time I go by them. It's just more doomsday crap from the board alarmists.

And yes, when I was a kid they said the same shit even though me and all my friends played outside 90% of our free time. I think the only TV I watched was an hour of Disney afternoon per night.

Tailspin/Ducktales ftw.

[Tossica]

It's a constant fight with my son to get him outside to play when he is here. I literally have to walk him through step by step what to do in order to have "fun" outside. I cut him some slack because he hasn't met any of the neighbor kids here because they are never really outside playing either but if I don't give him a project, he will literally stand in one place outside and not have any idea what to do. He loves to do stuff with me outside but if he is alone, he has no idea what to do. I blame his mother.