Nature calls even without cell phones

The Sentinel ^ | May 23, 2007 | Anon

[fgoodwin]

Nature calls even without cell phones

http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2007/05/23/editorial/editorial/daily876.txt
http://tinyurl.com/3dmegu

By The Sentinel, May 23, 2007

Last updated: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:16 AM EDT

One of the drawbacks of the highly technological society we've created is the sedentary lifestyle it has inspired.

When so much of your information gathering, communication and entertainment is centered around staring into a screen - not to mention the vast majority of most people's work duties - the amount of time we spend mostly motionless adds up quickly.

Naturally, we're teaching this new non-active lifestyle to our children, whether intentionally or not. Look at all the TV commercials where we see kids staring at TV sets or computers when they're not poking aimlessly at cell phones, sending each other messages. If not for the Nintendo Wii with its motion-sensitive controllers, many of today's kids would be indistinguishable from statues.

Even if you factor out technology toys, the fact that kids are increasingly being discouraged from walking between school and home because of safety or crime concerns makes it difficult for them to stop and smell the flowers. Which means they could easily grow up into the kind of people who won't miss such things when they're gone.

Enter the U.S. Forest Service, which is spending $1.5 million nationwide - an amount constituting a rounding error for most federal agencies - on a new program called “Kids in the Woods” aimed at some 23,000 children in 15 states. The idea is partly about exercise and fresh air, but it's also a way to stimulate the inquisitiveness of young people regarding the natural world.

Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell freely admits the program has an element of self-interest as well - her organization has a graying work force. But author Richard Louv, whose book “Last Child in Woods” helped draw attention to the gap between kids and nature, told the Associated Press, “If kids are not going outside in nature, who in the world is going to care about the spotted owl or any other endangered species?”

Organized initiatives like the Forest Service's might sacrifice some of the spontaneity of discovery we adults took for granted in our independent forays into the natural world. But they have the advantage of exposing kids to more precise knowledge of their surroundings and help dispel myths about which living things are dangerous and which aren't.

And some of these organized programs seem downright adventurous. One program in New York City takes kids from botanical gardens into forests and wetlands just outside the city limits. In Seattle, children go on expeditions into Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and take overnight trips into the forest.

The Forest Service's programs, sadly, don't take in Pennsylvania, but we're lucky to have many outdoor recreation opportunities close by in our state parks. Kings Gap and Colonel Denning state parks offer many organized events taking in fishing, backpacking and other nature-oriented activities.

With summer approaching and school ending, now's a good time to get yourself, and your children, in the habit of taking in nature, especially the fine examples that surround our community. You might not want to leave your cell phone behind while you're out there, but you might be inclined to turn off the ringer.