Fellow Earth Mama and good friend, Meg sent me Last Child in the Woods as a birthday gift. I’m left to ponder, “has there ever been a better gift?”.
I believe in limiting my children’s access to technology, in turning the television off (and I say THE because we have only one tv in our house), in putting on the wellies and getting outside. Unfortunately many children spend far to much time indoors. Schools are limiting P.E. and recess. Kids wile away the afternoons playing video games and hanging out in virtual rooms online. We are seeing rising rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, ADD & ADHD, lethargy and depression. That’s not the future I want for my children.
Looking back on my childhood, we were seldom inside. We spent hour upon hour outside making dirt tracks under the big oak tree, riding bicycles, playing red rover, gardening and making many a mud pie. Heck, I remember dissecting dragonflies, slicing a worm between its hearts to make several worms and allowing potato bugs to crawl on my hands.
Kids are fatter than ever, watch more TV than ever before, and play and use their imagination increasingly less.
This does not bode well for them or our planet.
As Senegalese poet and naturalist Baba Dioum said,
We will protect only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.
If today’s children do not get outside to play in nature, with nature, they will have little reason or desire to protect the environment when they are adults.
Parents have the power to change this! Inspire play. Make active choices. Make TV the dessert of your child’s at home time, not the main dish.
Children will fight this (especially if they are use to spending the majority of the day in front of the TV).
Fight back!
Fight with patience. Fight with opportunity. Fight with love, knowing that what you are doing is for the good of your child and the planet.
As The US House of Representatives votes on No Child Left Inside this week, this is your last chance to let your legislator know you want MORE funding for training teachers in outdoor education, MORE funding to expand environmental education programs and MORE programs to ensure that US graduates are environmentally
According to No Child Left Inside, “A study found that young people could identify 1000 corporate logos but fewer that 10 plants or animals native to their backyards.”
Ask most educators about No Child Left Behind, the current administration’s education initiative, and a constant complaint would be the de-emphasis on those subjects deemed non-essential: art, music, physical education, etc. Environmental education, outside of the traditional science class, fits into the category of subjects that aren’t assessed by standardized tests and, therefore, not prioritized in many U.S. schools. Fortunately, potential legislation might change that. No Child Left Behind expires
Fellow Earth Mama and good friend, Meg sent me Last Child in the Woods as a birthday gift. I’m left to ponder, “has there ever been a better gift?”.
Ask most educators about 
