Children Now Spend Less Time Outside Than The Average Prisoner
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Prisoners the world over are characteristically defined by their inability to move freely. Inmates at the Wabash maximum security prison in Indiana, however, were recently shocked to learn about one group that enjoys less time outdoors than they do: children.
A global survey conducted on children’s time outdoors quickly became an ongoing campaign called “Dirt is Good” after the findings showed a concerning lack of outdoor playtime among children aged five to twelve. The results of the survey, commissioned by British laundry company Persil and conducted by an independent market research firm, revealed ⅓ of British children spend 30 minutes or less outside every day — and that one in five does not play outside at all on an average day. The researchers surveyed 12,000 parents spanning 10 countries: the United States, Brazil, U.K., Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and India.
The Dirt is Good initiative was founded based on the survey, and the short film of the same name, which features interviews with inmates, reports that “on average, children now spend less time outdoors than a prison inmate.” According to Dirt is Good, inmates receive at least two hours of time outside every day while most children enjoy an hour or less.
The inmates interviewed in the short film expressed the importance of their outdoor time.
“I think it’s probably the most important part of my day,” one inmate says. It “keeps my mind right, keeps my body strong,” another explains. Yet another calls his time outside “pretty much the highlight of my day.”
The inmates were then asked how they would feel if their time outside were reduced from two hours per day to one. “I think it’s gonna build more anger, more — it’s not gonna be a good thing,” one inmate observes. Another says it would be “torture,” while a guard says, “I think cutting the offenders’ outside time to an hour a day is . . . potentially disastrous.”
When the interviewer tells the inmates that children often receive only one hour of outdoor time per day, they are shocked, if not speechless. “That’s depressing,” one comments. “Climb a tree, break a leg; that’s part of life,” another says. “If you don’t have to throw the kids in the bathtub, they haven’t played hard enough,” the guard tells the camera.
“Learn to be a kid, ” yet another inmate observes.
The Dirt is Good campaign’s comparison between inmates and children is particularly fitting, considering critics of public education have pointed out the “criminalization of school spaces” and the resemblance of schools, at least in the United States, to heavily regulated prison environments.
However, prison-like atmospheres, in general, are not the only problem.
As the Washington Post summarized in an article about children being forced to “sit still” in class:
“The problem: children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters are a thing of the past. Recess times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues, and the hectic schedules of modern-day society.”
The Post conducted its own study on several classrooms with seemingly ‘hyperactive’ children who had trouble sitting still, finding not just a lack of movement, but physical ramifications from the lack of activity. Noting that “many children are walking around with underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system” due to restricted movement. Post columnist Valerie Strauss argued that “In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their body in all directions, for hours at a time. Just like with exercising, they need to do this more than just once-a-week in order to reap the benefits.”
Whatever the cause of children’s reduction in time outdoors — whether excessive rigidity in schools, increased time on electronic devices, or parental fears about their child’s safety, for example — experts agree it’s a problem that must be addressed. The Dirt is Good campaign has launched a variety of initiatives to encourage outdoor play, including an “Empty the Classroom” day scheduled for June and tips for parents on gardening, outdoor excursions, and other ways to increase outdoor activity for children. The Dirt is Good campaign is chaired by two well-respected doctors who specialize in children and physical activity, as well as creativity.
While some may gripe that the campaign is sponsored by a corporation — Persil is owned by Unilever — the project nevertheless advocates positive changes for children and offers suggestions to help parents improve their children’s lives. Further, it provides an example of harnessing corporate power, which is often and rightly reviled, to effect change; regardless of the sponsor, the message is vital.
As one prisoner said:
“I didn’t know what freedom was until it was taken from me. It’s devastating. I’ve had who I am inside inside stripped away. You can never escape the wall. You can never escape your mind. Then imagine they open your door; you have time to walk out that door and feel the sun on your face. It’s everything to me.”
A global survey conducted on children’s time outdoors quickly became an ongoing campaign called “Dirt is Good” after the findings showed a concerning lack of outdoor playtime among children aged five to twelve. The results of the survey, commissioned by British laundry company Persil and conducted by an independent market research firm, revealed ⅓ of British children spend 30 minutes or less outside every day — and that one in five does not play outside at all on an average day. The researchers surveyed 12,000 parents spanning 10 countries: the United States, Brazil, U.K., Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and India.
The Dirt is Good initiative was founded based on the survey, and the short film of the same name, which features interviews with inmates, reports that “on average, children now spend less time outdoors than a prison inmate.” According to Dirt is Good, inmates receive at least two hours of time outside every day while most children enjoy an hour or less.
The inmates interviewed in the short film expressed the importance of their outdoor time.
“I think it’s probably the most important part of my day,” one inmate says. It “keeps my mind right, keeps my body strong,” another explains. Yet another calls his time outside “pretty much the highlight of my day.”
The inmates were then asked how they would feel if their time outside were reduced from two hours per day to one. “I think it’s gonna build more anger, more — it’s not gonna be a good thing,” one inmate observes. Another says it would be “torture,” while a guard says, “I think cutting the offenders’ outside time to an hour a day is . . . potentially disastrous.”
When the interviewer tells the inmates that children often receive only one hour of outdoor time per day, they are shocked, if not speechless. “That’s depressing,” one comments. “Climb a tree, break a leg; that’s part of life,” another says. “If you don’t have to throw the kids in the bathtub, they haven’t played hard enough,” the guard tells the camera.
“Learn to be a kid, ” yet another inmate observes.
The Dirt is Good campaign’s comparison between inmates and children is particularly fitting, considering critics of public education have pointed out the “criminalization of school spaces” and the resemblance of schools, at least in the United States, to heavily regulated prison environments.
However, prison-like atmospheres, in general, are not the only problem.
As the Washington Post summarized in an article about children being forced to “sit still” in class:
“The problem: children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters are a thing of the past. Recess times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues, and the hectic schedules of modern-day society.”
The Post conducted its own study on several classrooms with seemingly ‘hyperactive’ children who had trouble sitting still, finding not just a lack of movement, but physical ramifications from the lack of activity. Noting that “many children are walking around with underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system” due to restricted movement. Post columnist Valerie Strauss argued that “In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their body in all directions, for hours at a time. Just like with exercising, they need to do this more than just once-a-week in order to reap the benefits.”
Whatever the cause of children’s reduction in time outdoors — whether excessive rigidity in schools, increased time on electronic devices, or parental fears about their child’s safety, for example — experts agree it’s a problem that must be addressed. The Dirt is Good campaign has launched a variety of initiatives to encourage outdoor play, including an “Empty the Classroom” day scheduled for June and tips for parents on gardening, outdoor excursions, and other ways to increase outdoor activity for children. The Dirt is Good campaign is chaired by two well-respected doctors who specialize in children and physical activity, as well as creativity.
While some may gripe that the campaign is sponsored by a corporation — Persil is owned by Unilever — the project nevertheless advocates positive changes for children and offers suggestions to help parents improve their children’s lives. Further, it provides an example of harnessing corporate power, which is often and rightly reviled, to effect change; regardless of the sponsor, the message is vital.
As one prisoner said:
“I didn’t know what freedom was until it was taken from me. It’s devastating. I’ve had who I am inside inside stripped away. You can never escape the wall. You can never escape your mind. Then imagine they open your door; you have time to walk out that door and feel the sun on your face. It’s everything to me.”
Comments
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That's all of them fat with diabetes these days
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Spending too much time teaching for those state mandated test that don't mean ? as far as learning anything useful for life.
Plus they scared ? ass parents will sue if lil Johnny falls on the playground or gets picked last for basketball -
Outside is dangerous. There are cops out there..
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5 year olds know how to make vine videos
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because today we have horrible parents
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because today we have horrible parents
? don't like running around with there kids I'll be the only parent in central park setting up soccer/football games when the weather gets nice
I can't wait to the weather breaks I like see my kids compete and grow athletically -
The internet.
As much as i love it, it has changed humans.
Communication is all ? up because they are just text messages. Cant read emotion or context. Instead of kids meeting up at someones house to play video games, they do it online. Parents are lazy and let them do whatever on the internet cuz they will ? . Theres a number of things the internet has ? up. -
Internet. iPads. Video games on every device. Etc. Etc. Back in the day, you couldn't even drive down a street in a neighborhood without having to yell at some kids to get their little bad ass out the street playing basketball or football or whatever. These days? Kids ain't trying to be all out in the sun playing and ? when they can be inside ? with apps and ? . smh.
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This is strictly the fault of parents. If, you aren't teaching your children balance you are failing. When, I don't want my children on their devices I take them ? . Making sure your kids are active at a young age will ensure they are active as they get older.
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not to mention back in the day, you used to could leave your kids unattended ALL damn day b/c you knew the neighbors and there was an understanding that even if you didnt want your neighbors whipping your children, they at least showed you a courtesy by bringing your child to you, letting you know what happened
NOW?? in the day of social media? You cant have one parent tell another parent about their child without some sort of fisticuffs. Everybody believes their lil Pe'Tehn is an angel and wouldnt dare do anything wrong. And the nerve of you for coming to them telling them about their child. And neighbors really dont interact like they used to any more
Its not as cut and dry as all kids got cellphones and ipads/tablets. People have changed for the worse as well. -
not to mention back in the day, you used to could leave your kids unattended ALL damn day b/c you knew the neighbors and there was an understanding that even if you didnt want your neighbors whipping your children, they at least showed you a courtesy by bringing your child to you, letting you know what happened
NOW?? in the day of social media? You cant have one parent tell another parent about their child without some sort of fisticuffs. Everybody believes their lil Pe'Tehn is an angel and wouldnt dare do anything wrong. And the nerve of you for coming to them telling them about their child. And neighbors really dont interact like they used to any more
Its not as cut and dry as all kids got cellphones and ipads/tablets. People have changed for the worse as well.
Ppl have not change for the worst. If by worst you mean lazy than yea. But I think it's an America thing. -
GROWING UP IN APARTMENTS>>>>> A HOUSE
RIDE THOUGH THE HOOD, KIDS ARE ALLLLWAYS OUTSIDE -
Damn kids won't stay offa the block in my mum's estate.
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Shizlansky wrote: »not to mention back in the day, you used to could leave your kids unattended ALL damn day b/c you knew the neighbors and there was an understanding that even if you didnt want your neighbors whipping your children, they at least showed you a courtesy by bringing your child to you, letting you know what happened
NOW?? in the day of social media? You cant have one parent tell another parent about their child without some sort of fisticuffs. Everybody believes their lil Pe'Tehn is an angel and wouldnt dare do anything wrong. And the nerve of you for coming to them telling them about their child. And neighbors really dont interact like they used to any more
Its not as cut and dry as all kids got cellphones and ipads/tablets. People have changed for the worse as well.
Ppl have not change for the worst. If by worst you mean lazy than yea. But I think it's an America thing.
no I mean, people who dont know how to intelligently engage in a non confrontational manner
how many videos on worldstar have you seen when a chick confronts another chick for something their child did? Im not saying there arent instances where an aggressive approach isnt warranted, but it should be the last resort and not the first.
or how you got ? that are straight up knowingly trying to ? underaged girls. Not saying this wasnt an issue before, but seems like its more rampant now than it ever was
people have changed, for the worst -
All this is the pussyfication & bitchification of American society.
Everybody jumping on the "sports concussion" bandwagon that makes parents reluctant to enroll their kids in sports.
In addition to lazy ass parenting. Giving kids electronic devices at an early age creates sensory overload, and over stimulation of their "still developing" brain.
Then we wonder why these young kids can't sit down and focus for an extended period of time reading a book, or listening to a lecture, without the visual stimulation of technology. -
Not going outside was a punishment during my childhood....
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Not going outside was a punishment during my childhood....
My kids was acting a fool one day in the house I sent them outside and they stood around like i chained them to a tree all sad faced and ? . Hurt my soul man -
Not going outside was a punishment during my childhood....
coming home from school, might watch Rap City (depends on who they have on that day) then outside all day until curfew -
its sad cuz u never see kids outside playing basketball or football... only place I see the ice cream truck on in the hood. Moms used to lock the screen door and all I had to play with was the dog and fight bushes with a stick in the back yard. With all the internet access and video games/tv kids have no social skills an are soft when it comes to being outside. Lil ? ? bout their allergies in ? wanting to come inside smh.
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I be shocked low-key when I go play ball at the park and there are kids there. We played video games, too, but that was at night after we had been playing outside and ? all day. ? used to live on a 10-speed back then and go home and play Super Nintendo and Sega all night. I bet half of these kids don't know how to ride a bike now smh.
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Lou_Cypher wrote: »The internet.
As much as i love it, it has changed humans.
Communication is all ? up because they are just text messages. Cant read emotion or context. Instead of kids meeting up at someones house to play video games, they do it online. Parents are lazy and let them do whatever on the internet cuz they will ? . Theres a number of things the internet has ? up.
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My sis told me her bro in law having a BBQ in the summer with a no electronics rule. All the kids are required to play with each other. My niece and nephew heard that and they were like noooo -
I remember every Sunday me and my cousins used to all meet up and grandma's house and play outside til the street lights came on. Almost every week grandma was getting the alcohol/peroxide cause one of us skinned our knee
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Not going outside was a punishment during my childhood....
NIG-GA! That s*** use to hurt like hell.
Standing in front of the screen door, watching your friends outside playing. Then to make it worse, they KNOW you on punishment, so they deliberately chose to play outside in front of YOUR HOUSE. ? .
Still remember when my mama keeping me inside, and me looking at a good game of kickball going on in front of our house. Smh. -
aint nothing better than gettin your squad and just playin sports, riding bike, playing skelly or just chilliin outside as a kid these kids missin out
