While wandering a small bookstore, a book caught my eye called “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv. I skimmed it enough to know that I want to buy it and jotted the information down in my notepad. Suddenly I see references to the book everywhere. The idea that not just time spent in front of electronics, but children overscheduled with teams and classes instead of unstructured creative play in nature is causing behavioral problems is very interesting. My school age children have multiple classes and activities that they attend every week. We have to practically evict them from the house to get them away from video games. My childhood wasn’t like this. I left the house after breakfast and stayed out until I was hungry, often skipping lunch because I was having too much fun. I wandered large distances from home, played in dangerous places (I loved the drainage ditches and culverts) and had a wonderful time. My own mother has confessed that growing up on a military base, the children would play on the missile silos. I feel nervous when my children leave our cove. They have helmet, sunscreen and bug spray requirements the times when they actually step away from the computers, PS2, GameBoy and television. At least Sarah and Noah will spend time at camps this summer. It isn’t unstructured, but it’s a start. Has anyone read the book?
Haven’t read it but I think I’m going to pick it up. I took away DJ’s tv privileges for the night…every night during the summer. One movie on Friday night and another on Saturday night. I’ve seen some major improvements so far. I also took away juice. Only water and milk. I think I”m going to have to buy the book.
I haven’t heard of the book, but I have a lot of concerns about my kids and electronics. When I was growing up, we weren’t allowed tv or even radio. While I wouldn’t go that far, I do limit what my kids do. They don’t play video games, they aren’t allowed on the computer except for homework stuff. They each have a tv in their rooms, but in the summer we turn off the cable so no tv allowed. We do have the dvd player in the living room and they watch a movie every night. Honestly, they don’t seem to miss it. They have never asked for video games or for computer time. Maybe it is because they don’t know what they’re missing.
I think that it’s a good thing. They spend a lot of time playing with each other, reading and being creative. All of the kids are on the A/B honor roll and we haven’t had any serious behavioral issues. The one of the kids with some behavioral issues (diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder) still does much better than a lot of the other kids her age that are dealing with the same problems.
It is a trade-off, though. If I expect the kids to go without tv during the summer, that means I miss my fix of the shows I watch. The only thing that I keep is my blog, because I don’t think I would remain sane without it 😉
My dad always said that responsibility builds character. We expect the kids to help a lot around the house and be responsible for themselves and their actions. But they appreciate the things they do have a lot more because of it.
Anyway, I have no idea if this comment is even relevent because I’m rambling so much…
The book sounds interesting and I’m sure it makes some valid points.
Speaking of books, let me recommend BIOLOGY OF BELIEF: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles by Bruce Lipton.
It has just been released and I look forward to reading it. I have met Bruce Lipton and heard him lecture and it is very interesting to hear someone discuss a quantum physics approach to health versus medicine’s Newtonian approach. Very cool stuff.
The book is available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aws/cart/add.html/103-8824626-3767060?SubscriptionId=D68HUNXKLHS4J&AssociateTag=spirit2000com-20&ASIN.1=0975991477&Quantity.1=1&linkCode=as1&submit.add.x=65&submit.add.y=11&submit.add=Buy+from+Amazon.com) and more info at http://www.brucelipton.com/ or http://www.bruceliptonbestseller.com/
We’ve all probably heard about how TV watching before age 3 contributes to later diagnoses of ADHD. My brother is 14 going on 15 and stays glued to the X-Box console/Television. I never wanted a TV in my room growing up but my middle brother had one. He wondered around the neighborhood while I read my books. Both still very different from my younger brother playing his video games. He plays sports, golf, baseball and basketball. But up until this year my parents have only made him mow the yard. (I am rambling now too). I’ve not read the book but I did see a Jane Pauley show on kids/teens addicted to video games/computer games. I think it is addiction waiting to explode but is still under the radar.