Two of my great passions in life are youth and the outdoors. Any chance I get to combine the two is a great time in my life.
I work with “at risk” youth as my “real” job. Every chance I get I want to get them outside. In fact when I am there and working as shift leader, there is no television until 8p.m. If you choose to sit inside you must be doing something productive. To me it does not matter what they want to do as long as we are outside. It could be a great game of softball, fishing the shoreline in front of our facility, or just spending time talking in the sun. At home with my own two year old son I do the same thing. There are certain shows that he enjoys to watch when he first wakes up in the morning. This last one hour and then the television goes off. We go outside for most of the morning until it is nap time. If we do come inside, he plays with his trucks, toys, or does something rather then sit in front of a television. Most times thank God I have to force him to come in for a nap.
The program “no child left inside” is a great program that ALL states need to adopt. Not only do the states need to adopt this, but parents need to jump on board as well. There is nothing worse then parents letting the tv, video games, or computer babysit their kids. Go outside with your kids. Since day one I have taken my son, who is now 2 for a daily walk. We have a set time, 7:30 in the morning. We will be outside for atleast a couple hours. Then we come in have a snack, play or color until nap time. As soon as we get up we are outside again. This is a routine that my wife or I do with him on a daily basis. At two years old my son can tell you some game sign, what kind of trees some are, and will lead you to the “main” spots on our 12.5 acres of land. If you came over this morning and said lead me to the stream/bridge, he could do that. Lead me to dad’s deer hunting stand, he would. Show me where the bear scat is, he can do that also. Ok, enough bragging about my son. The sad thing is kids these days no more about the rain forest then they do their own forest behind their house.
The national average for obese children is at 13% for girls and 19% for boys. Why is this? A major part is that kids are to involved in indoor activities, while parents are to busy working.
In a recent meeting, Dr. Susan Lynch talked to a large group of people in New Hampshire. Dr. Lynch was attempting to teach this group of educators, medical staff, and others the importance of getting kids outside.
Kids, she said, are less active than the previous generation and are choosing video games and instant messaging over building forts and catching bugs in a jar.
I am not just telling people to promote hunting, fishing, and trapping. Take the time to take these kids hiking, biking, swimming, or whatever else that interests your child. Just get them outside.
National statistics show bike riding is down 31 percent since 1995 and in a typical week, only 6 percent of children aged 9 to 13 play outside on their own.
That is a sad statistic. I grew up on this land that I live on now. There were no neighborhood kids to play with. I live in rural Maine. That didn’t stop me from spending hours exploring the woods, riding my bike, shooting basketball for hours in the driveway, or just doing nothing…outside. My parents did not let me just hang around inside. We need to learn from our parents, kick the kids outside. Although, as any generation likes to out do the next, we need to take this one step further then our parents did. Just don’t kick your kids outdoors. Go outside with them. This will develop a relationship with them that will be so strong. At two years old I spend hours with my son. As he grows older this time will only increase. As he can ride bikes, go on hikes, go fishing, hunting, or whatever else he shows interest in. The relationship I am setting with him right now by spending time with him outside will be very beneficial when he becomes a “know it all” 16 year old boy. That will happen, remember back guys, we all knew everything at 16.
What I am trying to say is this: it does not matter what you do with your kids. As the Nike slogan says “just do it”. Go outside with them. This will provide them a strong foundation that will be beneficial to them when they get older.
Get involved in the “no child left inside” program. There is also the “hooked on fishing not on drugs program”. As I said, I live in rural Maine. The “at risk” youth I work with so many times get in trouble because they are “bored”. Bored, how does that happen? Because we don’t provide them with the tools to fulfill their “downtime”. If you get them outside and introduce them to these activities at a young age, they will pick up a fishing pole and go fishing instead of a joint and smoke it when they are 16.
