mattandersao
04-14-2011, 02:37 PM
In only a generation, kids have stopped spending most of their playtime outdoors. It's one of the most profound changes in the history of childhood, says pediatrician Harvey Karp, a board member of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group.
"It's the end of thousands of years of normal childhood," Karp says.
Of course, there's a lot less nature left these days. More people live in cities than in the countryside now, says Richard Louv, author of Last Child (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Last+Child) in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.
But the biggest barrier to getting kids outside is fear, Louv says.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2011/04/The-great-outdoors-are-just-that-for-kids/46093534/1
"It's the end of thousands of years of normal childhood," Karp says.
Of course, there's a lot less nature left these days. More people live in cities than in the countryside now, says Richard Louv, author of Last Child (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Last+Child) in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.
But the biggest barrier to getting kids outside is fear, Louv says.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/story/2011/04/The-great-outdoors-are-just-that-for-kids/46093534/1