So all of my friends in alternative education are floating this article around. I see these regularly, articles that allow folks to feel good about their choices in life. We all do it, so no judgment there. The article was written to highlight the reasons that ADHD/ADD diagnoses are on the rise and only addresses only one of the possible reasons. The Washington Post was basing their blog posting on the blog post from Timber Nook, a developmental outdoor camp located in New Hampshire. Timber Nook is a great resource and has a wonderful blog that is a great reminder for folks to do what is natural for each and every one of us – going outdoors - and they summed up the issue in one succinct sentence.
So, what does Timber Nook say? “The problem: children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters are a thing of the past. Recess times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues, and the hectic schedules of modern-day society. Lets face it: Children are not nearly moving enough, and it is really starting to become a problem.” True dat.
But, what are the other contributors and how do we as parents come into this equation? Have you recently handed your toddler or preschooler your iphone or an ipad? If so, you might want to read this article the dangers of putting technology into those small precious hands. Or this article, listing 10 reasons to keep handheld devices out the hands of the 0-12 year old crowd. Check out this article about technology decreasing our ability to focus. I know, you can argue that your child has great focus. She can sit for three hours while playing first person shooter games (don’t even get me started).
But, that’s not the same is it? It’s not the same as sitting down with a new book and being so enthralled that you read it from start to finish (this is a regular occurrence in my home). It’s not the same as handing them a model set and watching them build for two hours before coming up for air (yep, my son does this). It’s not the same as sending them out into the backyard with nothing but a blanket, a bow and arrow and their imagination and telling them they cannot come in until dinner time (yes, we do this at our house).
I don’t mean to mislead you. There is no perfection here. My husband and I do things wrong – on a daily basis. And, we have a television, a subscription to the Netflix DVD service and a handful of favorite movies that we watch again and again. We have a Wii, but only have two types of games – Lego games and games that make you move like Wii Sports Resort. There is no TV in our car and our daughter (age 8), instead of staring at a DS, listens to books on tape when we are in the car. James Herriot’s Treasury for Children is among her favorites. Our son is now 12 and we stepped a little more into the world of technology with him this year. He is now playing Minecraft and Age of Empires on the computer and now has his own iPod which he most often uses to listen to music – preferably soundtracks from favorite movies – and occasionally plays games.
There is a part of me that truly regrets having introduced the television or any gaming components to our kids. But, I can tell you, that they are healthy and balanced and find as much joy in a five-mile hike at a local park as they do sitting on the couch staring numbly at a screen. I’ll leave you today with a couple of things. The first is a blog post from Mollie Hemmingway over at Mommyish. Mollie reminds us that sticking a screen in front of our kids takes away from teaching them the basics in life. “But the fact is that we think our job as parents is to teach our children how to dine appropriately. That means that we teach them to converse with us, ask and answer questions, eat appropriately (as in, no, you should not stick the eggplant in your ear, thank you very much) and for the love of all that’s holy, learn how to drink with a straw.”
The second thing I’ll leave you with is an image of my 12 year old son training for the Appalachian Trail.
“And I leave the children the long, long days to be merry in in a thousand ways, and the Night, and the trail of the Milky Way to wonder at….” ~Williston Fish, “A Last Will,” 1898
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