Tim Krohn
The Free Press
November 07, 2007 11:09 pm
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Another week and another study showing our kids are becoming moldy zombies from sitting in the dark, peering at computer screens and TVs for hours.
The latest research says young people have become almost completely detached from parks, nature and the outdoors. They even have a name for it: “Nature deficit disorder.”
It’s gotten so bad that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed a “children’s outdoor bill of rights.” It actually lists 10 things kids should experience outdoors by the time they turn 14.
A majority of the things I best remember in life were outdoors. Digging a snow fort in a drift. Fishing. I got engaged in Bluff Park in North Mankato on a Christmas Eve day and married outside in a park. I can recall a lot of little things — looking at goldfish in a pond with our granddaughter or teaching a grandson how to pack wet sand into a bucket to build a tower.
I don’t remember many of the times we watched TV, played video games or went to the mall together.
There are a lot of people trying to counter the trend, trying to give kids more of the things they should experience.
It’s not easy, as new studies — produced about every two hours — remind us.
There are the studies showing kids are desensitized to violence from video games. Studies showing kids are more obese and diabetic from sitting indoors.
Other studies tell us that when we are indoors we adults are usually doing things wrong. We need to make sure, the studies tell us, that we structure high-quality family time. The most important — and ALL the studies support this — is that you sit down at the table as a family during dinner.
That simple act, they say, will keep our kids from being obese, improve their grades, make them open up to us, and keep them off drugs.
I like to eat my meals in the easy chair, plate propped up under my mouth with the TV on. Still, if it’s for the kids, we thought we should give it a try.
The other night, we turned off the TV, told the teenager to sit down and had a nice meal together:
“What did you learn in school today?”
“Nothing.”
“Anything new going on?”
“No.”
“Are you using drugs?”
“Not yet, but if we keep having these dinners together I’m going to start.”
Then there’s the study by the Imperial College London that gives us something new to worry about as our kids spend more time inside. The researchers found that the electrical field given off by everything from computers to iPods charge millions of bacteria and pollutant particles in the air, making them easy to adhere to the throat and lungs, causing asthma and other respiratory diseases.
I can attest to this phenomenon.
When I checked on my son after many hours at an online computer game I noticed, by the glow of the monitor, that he had things clinging to him.
They were giant dust bunnies sucked out from under the computer desk by an electron field. The dust bunnies had morphed into something that looked sort of like big, mutant jack rabbits, clinging to his head and body.
They looked content and he didn’t seem to notice so I closed the door.
So we should definitely get our kids outside more ...
Wait a minute.
Here’s a study, from a horde of PhDs at Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, that warns of letting kids spend too much time outside during recess.
They cited the need for “sun protection intervention” to keep the little one’s from getting too much sun and skin cancer.
So, I think the research is pretty clear. We need to get those kids back inside and out of the sun. Except to enjoy the 10 outdoor experiences recommended by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Don’t let the youngsters near any electronics. Sit them down for a nice family meal. Keep them away from drugs.
But don’t engage in conversation. It just irritates them.
Tim Krohn is a Free Press staff writer. He can be contacted at 344-6383 or tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com.
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