"Kids: Have you been outside to play lately? Built a treehouse? Know where you
could dam a stream, build a fort, or just dig in the dirt? Such outdoor experiences
are getting scarce in the modern, hyperdeveloped era, says columnist Richard
Louv. Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, spoke to a crowded room at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum last week."
This is the led to a quick little piece I read in the WhyFiles. Having just got back from a week in Big Bear, it got me thinking. (Also, I just want to react to Oliver’s last comment).
One of the reasons why I like going to camp is because as a child it was one of the few times I could play in the dirt, pick up pine-cones, throw rocks etc. I think it’s harder and harder for kids to be kids and nature is one of the places that brings it out of them. Sadly, as this article notes, it’s becoming harder and harder to create the environments where children can put down their video games and just run around.
I don’t know if it’s connected to ADD or ADHD, but somehow I wouldn’t find it surprising if there is a bit of a link. The article mentions something that I’ve heard several times over: Visit to national parks have been down since 1983.
The camp that I have been going to since 1993 (gosh has it been
that long?), has changed a lot over the years. The main driving factor
of these changes is that the camp is being built to hold more kids.
This actually got me thinking today about the changing face of camping
in America. National parks are being visited less and less. Campgrounds
are being developed to hold more kids (is this a common theme), what is
the institution of summer camp, how does it effect kids, parents and
how is it coping with changing times?
A book? Perhaps. Maybe that’s what Louv’s book is? It might not be a book too many people would read, but I do think it would be an interesting one to research. Oddly enough, I wouldn’t mind getting a grant to write it. It
would probably require me to just live on different camp grounds,
listen to stories and see if there is a reoccurring theme. I imagine
getting anecdotes from people would be easy (Everyone talks about how
when they were campers they had to gather their own food by walking in
the snow, uphill, both ways).