The Observation Deck

Today at the City Club of Cleveland, author and futurist Richard Louv is speaking on the topic of "nature deficit disorder" - a term he coined to address the increasing lack of natural and unstructured play in our kids' upbringing. I am unable to attend so I was wondering if anyone who goes could comment on the presentation and reception by the audience.

I read his book earlier this year and share most of his conclusions. As a child of rural northwest ohio I can definitely see the need for a more unscheduled, unstructured, unprogrammed world compared to the what I see thrust on our youth today.

Most of our leaders tend to look for structure as the answer to some of the challenges present in our parks and public spaces. I think our city could learn to wield "non-structure" to serve kids that fall between the programs.

so what is the answer, mandatory montessori classes for all preschool age children?

Doug

There was no mention of anything mandatory. The people that could probably benefit most from his observations are parents of young children - parents who now feel that enrolling their kid in everything under the sun is the way to provide the best environment for development and to keep them out of trouble.

He also outlines the social strata the evolves when kids are put in a high programmed world such as Kids Cove vs an empty lot. In the programmed world of a jungle gym or various activity centers there is very little interaction with nature and favors a social hierarchy aligned with physical prowess. The same kids in an empty field with zero programming followed social patterns aligned with creativity and personal skills. In other words - playgrounds favor the physically adept kids as leaders while open fields favor the more socially creative kids as leaders.

(No, Doug - he doesn't advocate tearing down all jungle gyms)

Here is a link to the City Club site:

http://www.cityclub.org/content/speaker ... spkID=5369

ok thanks

It makes you wonder about all these politicians who grew up attending private Boarding Schools.

And what the heck is a "Play Date"?

George Carlin has a good bit about micromanaging kids these days.

We never scheduled anything on Saturday mornings at our house, so we missed out on anything that was happening including *gasp* soccer. But we didn't miss out on eating cheerios in bed while watching the smurfs. We also didn't watch TV during the week. The girls did play outside, dig for worms, made acorn soup, rode their bikes, layed in the backyard and watched the clouds and hiked in the valley.

The "girls" are 24 and 27 and still don't schedule anything for Saturday mornings. It's their personal time - mental health break - sleeping in - no matter what you call it, its one of the best gifts Bob and I could have given them.

so we missed out on anything that was happening including *gasp* soccer. But we didn't miss out on eating cheerios in bed while watching the smurfs

with such unconventional parenting, its a wonder that the girls aren't out jumping off cliffs or flying airplanes.....


Jeff

Like I said - this is something parents decide and implement. That is a refreshing story, Suzanne. My kids are 17 and 32 months and my wife turned me on to the book. She had a bit more of a suburban upbringing and I was always talking about times we built tree houses, cut down trees *gasp* and basically raised hell in a healthy way.

But Suzanne - you've identified the main problem facing today's parents. The dependence on TV as baby sitter, news source, culture center, history guide, cooking guide, travel guide as well as the nipple they suckle to sleep just sets the example for the kids starting at an early age. I have seen kids that know how to pop in a video and hit play at the same time they take their first steps. I have seen houses with TVs in kitchens AND dining rooms as well as all bedrooms.

As Cathy and I both work at home, it is very tempting to pop on the Today Show or even PBS in the morning. It's not to say that we never watch TV. Yes, my kids watch Elmo and TeleTubbies now and then but it is an event - not a passive background noise.

My brothers and I lost our TV in 1986 (as punishment for climbing and breaking our antenna) as I was going into seventh grade which, to this day, prevents me getting any pink pie pieces in Trivial Pursuit. But it was an accident that had great benefits as we were forced to find other stuff to do for the rest of our school years. But we missed our Dukes of Hazard - Friday nights. A-team on Tuesdays. When TV watching was an event in itself (like smurfs on saturdays) you use it as it was meant to be and what it is best at - pure entertainment.

Vince, in the interests of full disclosure - until the girls started school, almost every day I sat down at 4:00 with them and we watched Sesame Street together. I pretended it was good for them and they pretended not to notice me nodding off.

I also confess to being part of the cocoa puffs generation, so while the girls had oatmeal and fresh fruit for breakfast, I had my head in the refrigerator eating last night's dessert and diet coke.

There.....that feels better!

On another note - I love the City Club and just don't get down frequently enough. What a great resource.

Dear Suzanne,

Confession is good for the soul - now we all know - like every good mom, you taught by good example...most of the time. You are probably one of those types who likes to go to Rosati's to eat ice cream BEFORE DINNER!! When is the next time they have the Higbee's Malted?

Anyway...I'm with you 1000% on the importance of unstructured time. We actually don't plan anything on Saturdays either except for cooking, shopping and laundry (you know, it's the Sabbath, actually - so just to cover all our bases <grin> we rest for most of the day) Also, on Sunday, the Lord's Day, we rest too, just to be sure...except for church, cooking and laundry - but absolutely no computer on Sunday - a true sacrifice for our family (exceptions are parents checking email, and kids doing homework)

Five years of supervising elementary lunch and recess has been quite an educational experience for me. Granted, 20 minutes of recess is not quite the same as a day in the rural countryside, but you can observe many different behaviors that reflect how comfortable children are with "unstructured" time. What other job gets a person outside everyday to play with kids in just about any weather? Fun, fun, fun...

Suzanne Metelko wrote:Vince, in the interests of full disclosure - until the girls started school, almost every day I sat down at 4:00 with them and we watched Sesame Street together. I pretended it was good for them and they pretended not to notice me nodding off.

Whew!!!

I'm glad I'm not alone......

I majored in Psychology in Undergrad and I had thousands of ideas of what I would do and what I wouldn't do when I became a mother.

Then I became a mother and you know something all the books don't tell you is how exhausting it can be at times. And all those "always" and "nevers" became a little less strict.

I think Suzanne hit on a very important truth, most things in moderation are fine and as parents it is okay to not be perfect. I hated cartoons - mindless violence where people laugh about hitting each other on the head with hammers. But they saw them sometimes and seem to have turned out okay.

My children were active in sports. We introduced lots of things - and when we would get too busy, they would decide what to keep and what to get rid of with a little parental influence to give things a fair try. Sports always seem to win. And I did think sports was good for both of them.

The other thing we did lots of was art projects. We made tons of messes. My kids always thought I was crazy - but I told them coloring books had the lines there just as an idea - but they didn't have to stay in the lines - they were free to do what they wanted. I pushed them to experiment and go out of the lines!!!!! Both of them decided to major in art fields in college.

Headline on CNN:


Give kids more free playtime, docs urge

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/09/mo ... index.html

Social pressures and marketing pitches about creating "super children" contribute to a lack of playtime for many families. But so does living in low-income, violence-prone neighborhoods where safe places to play are scarce, the report says.

also... City Club has the Richard Louv Podcast up.

http://www.cityclub.org/content/podcast ... /index.asp

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