There is more than one way to waste a summer. Previously, we urged older teens to make productive use of their break from school by getting a job. The life lessons learned from those experiences often provide practical underpinning to “book learning.”
For those too young to work outside the home, the summer should also be a time of learning lessons not provided in the classroom.
Summer is an ideal time for young people to discover the natural world, something sorely missing among this generation of young people.
For previous generations, the outdoors provided an opportunity to discover and explore the world of nature. A kid who spent a summer day indoors was either sick or being punished.
It’s not that way anymore.
Today’s kids spend as much as 90 percent of their time indoors and up to 50 hours per week on electronic devices, according to one study.
The implications of such a sedentary, solitary existence are obvious. Young people are, by nature, curious and there’s a wonderful world of nature awaiting those kids when given the opportunity.
There are any number of camps and outings for today’s children. Scouting remains an excellent means of broadening a child’s exposure to the world of nature. The same is true of 4H.
Locally, one of the best opportunities is provided through the Frank Phillips YMCA, which offers week-long day-camps from June through the end of July at its excellent facility, Camp Henry Pratt.
The day camps offer children 6-12 a chance to engage in a wide variety of outdoor activities, from canoing to climbing a rock wall, swimming in the camp’s outdoor pool, exploring nature, learning archery, even riding a zip line.
Parents who wish to send their kids to YMCA camp should stop by any YMCA office.
Even the federal government is doing its part to provide opportunities for young people to explore the world of nature.
One of the best of those programs is called “Every Kid in Park,” an initiative that began last year that provides all fourth-graders throughout the nation a free pass to all federal lands,
The child can bring up to three other family members to any National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, National Monument or National forest.
Information on obtaining the passes is available at www.everykidinapark.gov.
The benefits of providing opportunities for our children to learn about nature go far beyond a simple escape from the monotony of a wasted summer break.
When a person develops an appreciation of nature as a child, that person will carry that respect for nature throughout their lives.
Our nation is blessed with abundant and diverse natural resources. All Americans, no matter where they live or what they do for a living, benefit from the natural beauty of our country. Those benefits carry an obligation, too.
We are all stewards of the natural world around us. If the natural wonders of our country are to be preserved and protected, it’s up to all of us to make sure that happens.
To that end, when kids learn to love and appreciate the natural world, they become better citizens as adults.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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