Are We Cheating Our Children?

Are we letting our children down? Are we so focused on getting them on track to the “right” school, to scholastically achieve ahead of their peers in math, science, music, dance, baseball, tennis or golf lessons, to so fill their daily hours with schedules of things to do, that they literally have no time for anything else, such as getting outdoors?

If you look at the statistics in The Outdoor Foundation’s 2009 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, released Sept. 16 by the not-for-profit organization, the conclusion I reach is—yes.

Of this year’s key findings, one of the continuing trends is a decline in participation in outdoor recreation among youth ages 6-17. For 2008, according to the report, involvement in outdoor activity by young people in that age category dropped six percent – resulting in a combined 16.7 percent drop over the last three years.

According to the organization’s press release, “Today’s kids are struggling to find time to get active outdoors and are foregoing outdoor pursuits in favor of other competing priorities. Among outdoor participants ages 6-17, lack of time is the primary reason they don’t get outdoors more often.”

The report’s summary is even more blunt.

“Taxed by the requirements of their often highly structured, overscheduled lives, today’s kids are struggling to find the time to get active outdoors and are foregoing outdoor pursuits in favor of other competing priorities. Among outdoor participants ages 6 to 17, a lack of time is the primary reason they don’t get outdoors more often. This lack of time is closely followed by a lack of interest and too much schoolwork.”

There’s more bad news, and I think especially for parents, in the report.

“For kids ages 6 to 17 who don’t participate in outdoor activities, the chief barrier is a lack of interest — an ambivalence to the outdoors that is likely the result of a lack of outdoor experience and a surplus of competing priorities.”

When asked who influences you the most to participate in outdoors activities, parents obviously were number one in the age categories 6-12, and 13-17. Ranking behind parents were brothers, sisters or other relatives for the 6- to 12-year-olds, but behind friends for the 13- to 17-year-olds.

Community programs (such as the Boy Scouts, YMCA, or a neighborhood program) ranked only fifth for ages 6-12, and low for ages 13-17.

Parents, you have a heavy responsibility to our future generations.

So what’s the big deal? You might ask. So what if your children are too busy to get outdoors, to go hiking, camping, mountain biking, fishing, or trail running?

I would answer that such a parental attitude is stealing from a child’s future, from memories of being outdoors, of having fun with family and friends around a campfire, of eating s’mores, seeing a hawk or eagle soar high above, of hearing an owl call out at night.

Taking your child to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or Yosemite national parks is a priceless experience, and an adventure that obviously needs budgeting and planning, I grant you, but what about just taking a day at your nearest state or county park? Leave the cellular phone, Blackberry or iPhone behind. Pack a lunch, take water, grab a camera, make memories.

I look back and wish I had done more with my children, who are all now adults. But looking at The Outdoor Foundation’s 2009 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, I won’t let that stop me. I think I’ll give my kids a call and see if they want to take a walk in the woods, or maybe go fishing. It’s not too late for making memories.

Maybe you should do the same.

Check out The 2009 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report for yourself; it’s available as a PDF at: www.outdoorfoundation.org/research

And if you want to discover places in the West to visit, explore, do camping, hiking or sightseeing, visit OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine at www.oldwestnewwest.com for some ideas.