Young people should have less screen time and more experiences in the natural world.
That’s the message Cheryl Charles, president and CEO of The Children and Nature Network, is hoping to spread to younger generations.
During a lecture Wednesday evening at Free State High School, Charles expressed concern about the amount of time children are spending with electronic devices.
“I am not against technology,” Charles said. “Their creativity isn’t enhanced to the degree that it is so naturally when they have that grounding experience in the out-of-doors.”
Charles is touring the country, urging today’s children to get outside for a few hours a day to explore nature and reconnect with the outdoors.
“Time to turn over rocks, climb a tree, to play outdoors and investigate their environment,” Charles said. “With that, kids grow up to be happier, healthier and smarter.”
Charles isn’t new to the environmental education arena. She has spent the past 20 years serving as the national director for Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, two of the most widely recognized environmental education programs nationwide.
“When children are spending 45 to 60 hours a week hooked into the electronics, that’s an indicator of a lot of things being out of balance,” she said. “We need to be thinking about ways children can get outdoors and play — unrestricted play.”
The latest research shows children age 15 are on average spending 35 minutes a week outdoors during the course of the weekend, and that’s just not enough, Charles said.
“We are just trying to do what’s best for our children and our community,” she said.
To learn more about The Children and Nature Network, visit childrenandnature.org.
Comments
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tumbilweed (anonymous) says…
Neither should adults.
SFBayhawk (anonymous) says…
I love the irony of the casino ad by "native" Americans introducing this news piece. Like when Jackson Browne toured with mega kilowattage to decry the nuclear industry: the ultimate disconnect.
DougCounty (anonymous) says…
logarithmic,
I agree, but that's exactly why kids should get outside--they need to figure out these things and put them in perspective. Think of all of the pain and aggravation that we put up with when we drive to KC for a "night on the town:"
K-10 traffic, which can kill you, innumerable stops and starts in Lawrence and KC, where you are exposed to side traffic, tricky parking, plus once you get there the security of having to lock up, watch your back for unsavory characters, plus standing around waiting for a table, for service, for food, for the bill. Then if you go out to dance, more lines, more expenses, dealing with the guy who decides if you look good enough to get in, the music volume, the spilled drinks, the potential for obnoxious folks, getting back to the car, having a designated driver who can drive/being sober enough to do it yourself (hope! hope!) then the drive back home.
All of these things have the potential to be very unpleasant or even deadly, and yet we don't think twice about doing it "because it's fun." Why is this? Because we have learned to gauge these things, developed mostly successful strategies to avoid bad outcomes, and "learned the rules." I posit that the same thing can and does happen in the woods with kids AND adults--they just need to develop the same set of coping skills and they'll have so much fun outdoors that they might even choose to do that instead of taking that trip into KC!
CrazyDiamond (anonymous) says…
...I was actually trapped by a grove of locust plants and was unable to leave without some serious scratches to my legs.
Wow, did they steal your wallet?
think_about_it (anonymous) says…
Wow log, after that little story I see you in a whole new light.
"I was actually trapped by a grove of locust plants and was unable to leave without some serious scratches to my legs." What a wuss.
DanAlexander (Dan Alexander) says…
"Kids must be careful when exploring nature in a natural setting."
Wow, just wow.
oneflewover (anonymous) says…
I basically grew up in the woods. I definitely had my share of ticks and chiggers but I got used to it. Never got hurt too bad. I do remember falling into a locust tree with thorns up and down the trunk. Growing up this way learning things on my own only made me more resiliant.
drake (anonymous) says…
You're just too cute logrithmic.
I can see you now prancing through the trees during turkey season with your pant legs all taped up to keep the bugs out. You are walking along trying to avoid the poison ivy and the locust trees while trying to read your little tree identification book through your nerdy little glasses all the while looking for those nasty poisonous snakes that are out to get you. Little do you know that you have just walked past 3 or 4 real men who are there to feed their families and just got an eye-full of some dumba$$ tromping through their peace and quiet.
Machiavelli_mania (anonymous) says…
Again, I always think that expert advice could be considered but certainly do NOT use it to eliminate having to think on your own. We are bombarded daily with "expert" advice. Someday I hope we get immune to it, or simply use it as a tool to further our own personal thinking.
There is research after research that tells us that kids who do not keep up with all the electronic gadgets available to them will be left behind in future jobs because they don't have the complex electronic experience.
average (anonymous) says…
Outdoors? Isn't that where all those OMG stranger danger sexual deviant predators live? Won't someone please think of the children?
DougCounty (anonymous) says…
logarithmic,
Sounds like the "locust bushes" are something called "bristly greenbriar"--check out pics thru google images to see if that's what you got caught in. They are nasty all right, especially with shorts on.
There's poison ivy around here aplenty, but no poison sumac in these parts. If it had a purple stem, and has dark purple berries in clusters, it would be poke, which is not a contact poison, tho eating the berries can make you sick. That's why most folks get rid of them, but if you grew up in the country like me, kids are taught not to eat those berries--and guess what: they don't! You can harvest the young sprouts in the spring and parboil them before you eat them, and they're delicious, too.
drake (anonymous) says…
Multi- not as bad as running into log on his dangerous adventures outdoors..........
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/...
merrill (anonymous) says…
When we were kids outside was the place to be. Bicycling,roller skating,playing in our mini real live log cabin,
checking out the nearby creek,sledding down the street etc etc etc etc.
Cheryl Charles check out the Wakarusa Wetlands on 31st for a real interesting visit.
Enjoy yourself,
Merrill
camflan (Camron Flanders) says…
Getting outside? Why hadn't I ever thought of this...
Brilliant!
HermioneElliott (anonymous) says…
“We are just trying to do what’s best for our children and our community,” she said.
Like you would know! "Our children", "our community"? We are all individuals here, so butt out.
Electronic devices should be used to enhance being in nature. You could take a picture and the netbook could tell you what you were looking at.
Most people do not live where there is any nature that you would want to see.
Practicality (anonymous) says…
It sounds terrifying logrithmic, maybe next time you should take an adult with you on your outings.
elfth (anonymous) says…
Lions, tigers and bears, oh my. When I was a kid my mother would ban us from the house for hours. I don't know if she was wanting us to learn about nature or maybe hoping nature might thin us out a little. Five boys were a lot to handle!
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Here ya go...............
http://www.logrhythmmusic.com/...
;-]
CrazyDiamond (anonymous) says…
..."Well I slid between the two bushes and I was suddenly surrounded on all sides by locust bushes. In essence, I had walked unwittingly right into the middle of a small grove of young trees (7 foot tall). I knew I could not go backwards cuz the trees had closed behind me. I felt like a fly in a Venus Fly Trap. There was no way out."
..."Imagine sliding between two of these and suddenly finding yourself in the middle of five (growing in a star formation), the branches close in around you."
I'm just trying to get a better idea of the predicament you were in... So the thorns on this pentagram of death were growing in such a way that they were pointing toward the inside of the trap allowing for a smooth and painless entry but preventing free passage to the rest of the hostile nature surrounding you? Kind of like a lobster trap?
DougCounty (anonymous) says…
logrithmic,
typically honey locusts don't come up in "bushes" like you described, rather they are individual trees, and yes they have thorns on their thorns--nasty ones for sure. They will come up as a grove like you described if the main tree was cut/broken off, which causes sprouts to come up all along the roots. Sorry you didn't notice before you got in the middle of them!
A good place for kids to "learn the rules" around here is for them to take classes/outings at the Prairie Nature Center. It has both prairie and woods out there, and you can learn all kinds of things with adult supervision to boot. Seems like they have day classes out there during the summer where they get to spend extended time outside.
Audubon also has classes for kids at the wetlands, and Streamlink is a great program where kids can get to know area creeks by wading in, gathering bugs and monitoring the health of a stream, even "adopting" them if they like. All great ways to "learn the ropes!"
DougCounty (anonymous) says…
Here's the schedule of elementary school field trips to the wetlands--I'd get my kid into one of these if they go to one of these schools, and if they attend another one, I'd ask my teachers to get a field trip lined up--they have a blast:
Wakarusa Wetland Learners Field Trips – Spring 2009
April 16 Cordley (29)
April 21 Sunset Hill (45)
April 30 Wakarusa V(~25)
May 7 Quail Run*(68)
May 11 Sunflower* (71)
May 14 Schwegler* (50)
May 18 Hillcrest (49)
May 22 Woodlawn (24)
CrazyDiamond (anonymous) says…
"And I didn't see the thorns until I was inside the grove."
Ok, you say you didn't SEE the thorns until it was too late, and I can buy that. But didn't you FEEL the thorns the instant they pierced your flesh?