Elizabeth Robertson: Free Topic #1-Kids!

Something that has been on my mind lately is how kids relate to nature. From my perspective, the age of innocence is getting younger and younger year by year. I've been thinking about why this is, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that kids spend less and less time outside, and more time inside. Not that spending time inside is bad, but what they do inside (video games, tv, etc) can have negative effects. This is not to say that I think these things are bad, it's just that when those things start to replace a child's time outside, it can become corruptive. Our parents used to play outside all the time when they were kids because they didn't have the technology that we have today. While I'm thankful for new technology, I also feel in some ways that I've been deprived of the type of childhood that my parents had. And I think things are just getting worse for kids as the years go by. It is so much easier for kids to entertain themselves with technology because everything is handed to them, but in nature, a kid has to put forth a lot more imaginative energy. In my opinion this is so positive because it teaches kids to think for themselves and to be resourceful. Sometimes I wish we didn't have technology so that everyone would just play outside all the time!!!