no child left inside

It's ironic that Facebook would alert me to a webcast about nature. A few days ago, the Chattahoochee Nature Center told me about a webcast from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. For those of you who don't know, Blank is the co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. His foundation sponsors lectures, and this evening they sponsored Richard Louv, journalist and author of 7 books, including his latest, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder."
The link to it is here. While the talk wasn't highly structured, it was worthwhile and I recommend it. So what did this author and chairman of the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) have to say? Some of his talking points:
In the past 20 to 30 years, without most of us realizing what was happening, lifestyle changes have had detrimental effects on children. Obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder, impaired social skills are severely impacting them. There are physical, psycho-social implications to less time spent outdoors, and little free and unstructured time. And this is a problem, because free and unstructured time is the landscape where dwells independent, imaginative play.
Well-intended parents will drive kids to and from school, sports events, dance class, and social events. All of these activities can have value, but not in lieu of this free-ranging play. What is the result? Children's lives are structured, organized, and timed to the minute. However, children are smarter, cooperative, happier and healthier when they have frequent and varied opportunities for free and unstructured play in the outdoors.
I haven't been blessed with children. But I find this topic fascinating. We make choices each day which move us in or out of balance. Readjustments are always needed. Pause. Take stock of your surroundings. Change course. But when we battle kids for homework, or struggle to get them reading, should we instead be struggling to get them growing vegetables, or turn off the television and walk through a park, because the walk is going to cure their future obesity, walking through the park is going to engage their imagination, and digging in the dirt is going to connect them to something bigger than their immediate surroundings, which might not be so great? Do we spend too much time trying to improve the grades, remove the fat from their diet and protect them from the world when we should be spending more time opening their imaginations and cultivating the creative juices they will need to face it?
Could be.
Thing is, Richard Louv spends a lot of time making the case for the benefits of a child connected to nature. But I think this shines the spotlight on the needs of adults as well. Because when it's cold, I would rather burrow into a comforter on the couch than dress for and brave the weather. Because in the south, the summer means humidity and I would rather excuse myself from any and all connections to nature. Because I chose my neighborhood because of its proximity to my job, and not because it had sidewalks (it didn't) or was within walking distance of a park (it wasn't) or local stores (it wasn't).
So while there may be a large population of parents out there casting a fearful eye toward their sedentary, computer-addicted, wii-engaged children who've never planted a seed in a cup to see it grow before, I find myself appraising my own lifestyle decisions, and I find myself coming up short.
I don't want to be the last child left inside. Not anymore.
--Laura