There is a small community in Silver Springs, Fla. that is trying to ban children from playing outside.
The homeowners association would like to slap a $100 fine on all offenders. As far as they’re concerned those pesky little rascals should be inside playing video games with their sedentary friends.
Speaking as someone who used to be a kid, this doesn’t sound like a very good idea. Kids need to go outside. Everybody does. That’s why our mothers used to send us all out to play.
It was a sad day indeed when we couldn’t go play outside due to bad weather, bad behaviour or just plain bad luck.
We would play outside on our way to school, during lunch and recess and on the way home with our classmates.
Then we would change into our old clothes so we could go outside and play again without worrying about getting dirty or hurt.
This same childish enthusiasm, for pretty much the same reasons, is a sure sign of summer in Thunder Bay. The frenzy begins about noon on any given Friday in July or August.
Outdoor enthusiasts are scurrying around town on their lunch break to pick up a few last items for the fishing trip or the weekend at somebody’s camp or a quick trip to the lake for a swim and a cookout.
Later in the day, after work, you can watch the parade of boats, motor homes and recreational vehicles on their way north, east and west to enjoy an outdoor experience. Everybody likes to be outside.
That’s why it’s such a shame that 80 per cent of Canadians live in the city. We are part of a worldwide trend toward urbanization.
How strange the lure of the city seems to be stronger than the call of the wild. The evidence suggests that it’s not good for us and we don’t really enjoy it.
Living in cities is hard on the brain. The noise, the frayed nerves and the massive whirlwind of information wears us down.
We suffer from high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stress related illness. There’s no recess in the big city and nobody goes outside to play.
That’s the problem. The human brain loves nature. Humans have spent most of their time on this planet as hunters and gatherers and we are still closely tied to the natural world.
That’s why we need to go outside, why we crave the great outdoors just like we did when we were kids. We love the excitement and glamour of the city but the summer sunshine and the trees are calling us home.
Scientists have a name for our lost connection with Mother Nature. They refer to this condition as Nature Deficit Disorder. I call it the summertime blues.
The well-known song tells us “there aint no cure” but there is another scientific hypothesis that gives us hope.
The evidence suggests we are all afflicted with a condition called biophilia. As biophiliacs we love the outdoors and have a biologically based need to affiliate with nature.
It is most evident in kids but even as adults we feel better when we get outside.
Tree-hugging hippies have been saying this for years. There is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems.
We subconsciously seek out these connections. There seems to be a strong emotional, almost spiritual, element to this.
It is unnatural for us to live in cities. Even though we are drawn by the bright lights and excitement, a move to the big city represents a biological malfunction. That’s why it always feels so good to get back from Toronto. On Yonge Street nature is a frill.
Living here in Northwestern Ontario is good for us.
We are surrounded by nature, or to put it another way, Superior by Nature.
One sniff of that clean forest air clears the neuro pathways and gets the Toronto out of our system.
As people walk out of the Thunder Bay International Airport you can watch them as they take that first big breath of fresh northern air.
Now you know why they do it.
If you have a case of the summertime blues, or even spring fever for that matter, all you have to do is go outside, look around and breathe deeply. You will get a natural high that will last for hours.
And the best thing is, it’s absolutely free, it’s perfectly legal and so far, it’s non-taxable.
The homeowners association would like to slap a $100 fine on all offenders. As far as they’re concerned those pesky little rascals should be inside playing video games with their sedentary friends.
Speaking as someone who used to be a kid, this doesn’t sound like a very good idea. Kids need to go outside. Everybody does. That’s why our mothers used to send us all out to play.
It was a sad day indeed when we couldn’t go play outside due to bad weather, bad behaviour or just plain bad luck.
We would play outside on our way to school, during lunch and recess and on the way home with our classmates.
Then we would change into our old clothes so we could go outside and play again without worrying about getting dirty or hurt.
This same childish enthusiasm, for pretty much the same reasons, is a sure sign of summer in Thunder Bay. The frenzy begins about noon on any given Friday in July or August.
Outdoor enthusiasts are scurrying around town on their lunch break to pick up a few last items for the fishing trip or the weekend at somebody’s camp or a quick trip to the lake for a swim and a cookout.
Later in the day, after work, you can watch the parade of boats, motor homes and recreational vehicles on their way north, east and west to enjoy an outdoor experience. Everybody likes to be outside.
That’s why it’s such a shame that 80 per cent of Canadians live in the city. We are part of a worldwide trend toward urbanization.
How strange the lure of the city seems to be stronger than the call of the wild. The evidence suggests that it’s not good for us and we don’t really enjoy it.
Living in cities is hard on the brain. The noise, the frayed nerves and the massive whirlwind of information wears us down.
We suffer from high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stress related illness. There’s no recess in the big city and nobody goes outside to play.
That’s the problem. The human brain loves nature. Humans have spent most of their time on this planet as hunters and gatherers and we are still closely tied to the natural world.
That’s why we need to go outside, why we crave the great outdoors just like we did when we were kids. We love the excitement and glamour of the city but the summer sunshine and the trees are calling us home.
Scientists have a name for our lost connection with Mother Nature. They refer to this condition as Nature Deficit Disorder. I call it the summertime blues.
The well-known song tells us “there aint no cure” but there is another scientific hypothesis that gives us hope.
The evidence suggests we are all afflicted with a condition called biophilia. As biophiliacs we love the outdoors and have a biologically based need to affiliate with nature.
It is most evident in kids but even as adults we feel better when we get outside.
Tree-hugging hippies have been saying this for years. There is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems.
We subconsciously seek out these connections. There seems to be a strong emotional, almost spiritual, element to this.
It is unnatural for us to live in cities. Even though we are drawn by the bright lights and excitement, a move to the big city represents a biological malfunction. That’s why it always feels so good to get back from Toronto. On Yonge Street nature is a frill.
Living here in Northwestern Ontario is good for us.
We are surrounded by nature, or to put it another way, Superior by Nature.
One sniff of that clean forest air clears the neuro pathways and gets the Toronto out of our system.
As people walk out of the Thunder Bay International Airport you can watch them as they take that first big breath of fresh northern air.
Now you know why they do it.
If you have a case of the summertime blues, or even spring fever for that matter, all you have to do is go outside, look around and breathe deeply. You will get a natural high that will last for hours.
And the best thing is, it’s absolutely free, it’s perfectly legal and so far, it’s non-taxable.
