Children Need Nature

Are your children locked indoors all winter? Maybe most of the year?

This is how typical children are raised in today’s America and many other countries. It is not only due to the seasonal weather but also to pervasive paranoia, isolationism and culture of fear. This is why we keep our children inside. Media is creating an atmosphere of constant danger and parents are becoming supersensitive to any possible risk, real or imagined. We do not know our neighbours anymore, so every possible person on the street is a stranger (read: danger).

But things were very different just one generation ago. I used to play outside at a local park all day without any supervision, coming home for meals and to sleep. Is it really so much more dangerous now or is it just our perception that changed?

Children have always been drawn to nature. Toddlers are known to eat dirt whenever we are not looking. As it turns out, they need the natural bacteria present in the soil to build their immune systems. Children raised in sterile conditions (read: very clean) are at a much greater risk for asthma and allergies. Nature provides what we need and heals us. It has done so for millennia. Various studies show many things about restorative power of the outdoors. University of Illinois reports that children with ADHD show significant improvement when exposed to green spaces. Dr. Mercola reports that time spent outdoors cuts children’s risk of myopia (nearsightedness). This is not really a surprise, since we had known for many years that color green and looking at the distance are beneficial for our eyes.

We also know how vitamin D from the sun is beneficial to all creatures on Earth, and more and more studies confirm how it positively affects our mood and health. Children, who are still growing, need it even more than us. And yet we are told to put on sunblock when we go out.

Children have this natural wonder and curiosity towards the Earth and all its creatures. They want to roll in the mud, get into the water (before they learn it is dangerous), eat the dirt and leaves. Every bug and every frog is examined very carefully. They have this natural ability to see it with the eyes of every creature they encounter. They are the butterflies and they are the fishes. Our job should be not to destroy this natural wonder, but allow it and nurture it. Sometimes we should forget about dirty clothes and muddy boots or we will raise a generation of people who believe that food comes from a box and the only interesting pass-time is watching TV or playing computer games. And then we are surprised that our children become obese and sick.

It is time to wake up and reclaim our love for green spaces, outdoor adventure and fresh air. Take your kids camping and reconnect with Mother Earth.