Wondering why so many kids nowadays
are
obese, play video games nonstop, and squint when every time they get
in real sunlight? According to Richard Louv,
we
are cloistering our children inside, robbing them of communion with
nature. The pressure to get kids to succeed academically so they can
get into Hah-vard, lack of big fields and other spaces for kids to
run around, and to a certain extent T.V. and iPods are all fingered
in his book, Last Child in the Woods. And he also looks at the way we
parent today. "'The underbelly of this issue is that parents are
scared to death,' Louv said. 'Parents are terrified that some
stranger is going to take their kids at the corner.' He blamed the
national media for taking a handful of terrible crimes against
children, magnifying and repeating them over and over, to create a
national state of fear."
Amen to that! So many of us are completely freaked about "stranger
danger" and restrict our kids' freedom. I know I was allowed to walk
the few blocks to the store by the time I was seven, and I still
can't imagine my child doing the same, even though I grew up in an
urban environment too. As for camping, hiking, and fishing...Well,
with so much of our
beautiful
outdoor space being destroyed, we'll be lucky if we can take the kids
to a crowded campsite in a few years. Louv has some great thoughts on
all these issues. It's hard to let your kid roam freely when you know
he or she will be the only kid out there without a grown-up following
right behind, chattering about adult supervision and the next
scheduled activity.
