Out of the Woods: Todays Kids Can't See the Forest for the MTV (Free Choice)

              Joel Achenbach argues in this article that children of this generation are staying indoors too much, and becoming more and more alienated from nature.  I agree with him on this topic. As a kid, I remember spending almost all of my time playing outdoors making mud pies, playing house in the tree house, or playing whiffle ball with the neighbors.  Now days with personal lap tops, internet, Wii, T.V. shows, etc. kids want to spend their time inside in front of their computers or T.V. set. When asked to go outside and play or help do chores kids, look at their parents like they just asked them to go churn butter or run 5 miles. In the article, he states that he believes parents are the number one contributor to this problem.  Parents are becoming way too overprotected, hinting to the children that the outside world is dangerous, and that the land is full of creepy strangers, speeding cars, and germs. Parents can now just push their kids in front of the television or computer screen keeping them easily occupied so that they can do their own thing and not have to worry about their kids running off. I found on cdc.gov that during the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. I didn’t realize how bad this issue really was until one summer I baby sat for a family that lived in the wealthy Weaver Ridge estates. The kids got everything they wanted, all they wanted to do all day was watch T.V. and play their Wii video games. I had to brag them with things just to take the dog on a walk, only walking maybe a block down the street and back. By the end of the summer, I had them spending most of the day playing outside and interacting with their neighbors and only allowing them be inside no more than a couple hours. As Joel Achenbach puts it, children need to get in touch with their inner animals. They need to go wild and not be afraid of the beautiful Mother Nature.