 jatfla says: The article reflects our changing habits and our relationship with our environment. I agree completely about the necessity of outdoors, nature, plants, our good ol' earth. Ever been fishing? To a quiet golf course? A hike? How does it rejuvenate you? I am working on making my backyard a kind of restful, naturalist place for me to go and be refreshed. Great ! Raise your children in the country, or at least send them in the country for vacations. My folks bought a place in the country for us to retreat to on the weekends. My fondest memories are from those experiences. We fished, too. So relaxing. Much food for thought in this article. Thanks jatfla. I've been harping on for so long about how we as a society have been both harming and depriving our children of the valuable experiences that help them to grow into self- sufficient fully developed human beings with that most vital of traits, an imagination that will enable them to not only thrive, but also excel, and not be eternally bored when left to their own devices and self-developed talents that I have been labeled by some/many as a curmudgeon. IMO all the adult instigated and run supervised sports and other childhood robbing escapisms will never make up for what we (as a society) have been doing to our children. Anyone else here, as a child, put outside by your Mother and told to "go play". I was an only child!! Who was I going to play with?! It was so good for me. I learned to entertain myself; I discovered nature, daydreamed, had imaginary friends, learned to enjoy books, etc. Children need more time than just 2 weeks a year of unstructured vacation time in Nature. 2 weeks is a very short time compared with 50 weeks of not being able to roam, forage, discover and explore safely in Nature near one's home. Urban streets are unsafe due to traffic hazards (including breathing the 500+ substances in vehicle exhaust, several of which are highly carcinogenic); local parks are unsafe because of needles, condoms, dog droppings and broken glass (besides, city parks are often boring over-manicured and pesticide-treated squares of grass). What options do our children and youth have but to frequent shopping malls and learn to become self-gratifying shopoholics filling the void... I'm quite thankful for the few city parks in my town, especially without a car. Bike or walk to one nearly every day when sitting on the porch and watching the lake isn't enough. Thank you enbar. My parents live in the woods and I am so grateful that my daughter can explore there. They built her a tree house, too. |
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