Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Go outside and play

Coining the term "nature deficit disorder," Louv has argued that indoor kids are more prone to a range of childhood problems, including obesity, depression and attention disorders. He contends that they miss out on the spiritual, emotional and psychological benefits of exposure to the wonders of nature, including reduced stress and improved cognitive development, creativity and cooperative play.


Nature Deficit Disorder? This is just a little over done.

I was one of those kids who's Mom always said, "Go outside and play." I would much rather have spent even more time rotting my eyes reading a book. TV was okay sometimes but mostly the world of books was far richer.

Putting a name to something makes it special, I understand that but let's not go overboard here. I know it is scary for parents to send their children outside nowadays. We are wrestling with that right now. We want to have a place with a nice little yard, big enough for a garden a swing set and a place to cook out and eat out.

Right now our daughter loves being outside so much she'll come up with any kind of excuse including "the car needs a hug."

Balance, moderation, variety is what we need to be looking at. A day here, a day there and maybe a little less fear. My wife is all worried about not being able to teach PE to her, I've watched our daughter, let her outside and she'll get all the PE she needs. I'm not going to worry about rules of games for a while as she might be able to come up with something new.

Link from Instapundit

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