Kinda says it all, doesn’t it? Of course, the thrust in the news piece is that the real danger is that we are not teaching the next generation to be good little mother earthers. Personally, I think gaining a familiarity with the great outdoors and a wonder of the creation tends to make one more appreciative of God. Scripture states that the nature and majesty of God is revealed in His creation (Psalm 8; Psalm 19; Romans 1 etc.) Its time for Christians to shut off the TV and hit the trails. You don’t have to be a seasoned outdoorsman to explore and appreciate the wonder, beauty, and majesty of the sea, earth, and sky.
but what do we hear from the media about the outdoors? crime is rampant, exposure to the sun will give you cancer, air quality is poor, west nile virus, lyme disease, etc., etc. I’m in agreement that kids today are too sedentary, but we seem to have this perception (which we get from people like Brian Williams of NBC!) that simple things like outdoor play are now quite complicated. so we do them less.
Turn off the networks, and switch over to the Travel Channel and the Outdoors Network. My only complaint about these two is
a)Travel channel tends to focus too much on ‘wealthy vacations’ and ‘haunted spots’ and
b) Outdoors Network is almost all hunting and fishing, very little camping, backpacking, or weekend hiking.
One of my dream vacations is to each year ‘section hike’ a different part of the Appalachian Trail. we almost made it to the starting point in Georgia this summer, but wouldn’t you know it? In the middle of a drought, we picked the only weekend it rained the whole time!
The other problem is that, whehter justified or not, the perception is now that letting children outside to play is itself an inherently risky business, owing to the presence of those who would prey on children. It seems that now letting kids out to roam the neighborhood on their own, even going a couple of blocks to visit their friends, is now seen as dangerous.
Tell me about it — children under 13 are not even allowed in our Library without having a responsible adult accompanying them. It’s just not seen (by the County Commission) as being safe.
Kinda says it all, doesn’t it? Of course, the thrust in the news piece is that the real danger is that we are not teaching the next generation to be good little mother earthers. Personally, I think gaining a familiarity with the great outdoors and a wonder of the creation tends to make one more appreciative of God. Scripture states that the nature and majesty of God is revealed in His creation (Psalm 8; Psalm 19; Romans 1 etc.) Its time for Christians to shut off the TV and hit the trails. You don’t have to be a seasoned outdoorsman to explore and appreciate the wonder, beauty, and majesty of the sea, earth, and sky.
but what do we hear from the media about the outdoors? crime is rampant, exposure to the sun will give you cancer, air quality is poor, west nile virus, lyme disease, etc., etc. I’m in agreement that kids today are too sedentary, but we seem to have this perception (which we get from people like Brian Williams of NBC!) that simple things like outdoor play are now quite complicated. so we do them less.
Turn off the networks, and switch over to the Travel Channel and the Outdoors Network. My only complaint about these two is
a)Travel channel tends to focus too much on ‘wealthy vacations’ and ‘haunted spots’ and
b) Outdoors Network is almost all hunting and fishing, very little camping, backpacking, or weekend hiking.
One of my dream vacations is to each year ‘section hike’ a different part of the Appalachian Trail. we almost made it to the starting point in Georgia this summer, but wouldn’t you know it? In the middle of a drought, we picked the only weekend it rained the whole time!
Next year for sure!
The other problem is that, whehter justified or not, the perception is now that letting children outside to play is itself an inherently risky business, owing to the presence of those who would prey on children. It seems that now letting kids out to roam the neighborhood on their own, even going a couple of blocks to visit their friends, is now seen as dangerous.
Tell me about it — children under 13 are not even allowed in our Library without having a responsible adult accompanying them. It’s just not seen (by the County Commission) as being safe.