OT: Outdoor lessons for 'couch kids'

Robert Bruce said:

news.bbc.co.uk3481735.stmOpen ↗

<<Children in Wales are being given special "lessons" in how to have fun outdoors amid worries that
a generation is growing up scared of playing outside.>>

Interesting little news item. Funny how it carefully skirts around the issue of *why* kids are
scared of the outdoors. It couldn't be because their parents and the mass media have been
drumming exaggerated tales of bogeymen and horrific accidents into them for a couple of decades
now, could it?

I like this (grabbed from somewhere off the Net):

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and
early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly
colored lead-base paint that was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine
bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our
wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger
seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never
overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this. We
would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to
find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got
dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.

No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal
computers, and no Internet chat rooms.

We had friends we went outside and found them ourselves. We played elastics and street rounders, and
sometimes that ball really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no lawsuits.

We had full on fistfights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-and-run and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.

We walked to friend's homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy
or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided
with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Moreover, you are one of them. Congratulations!

Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government
regulated our lives, for our own good.

--
Paul Lydon Winster, Derbyshire, UK

The lollipop man in the village where I work was recently sacked for refusing to stop bringing his
two beautiful newfoundlands to the crossing every morning. The local council, presumably fearing
litigation in the event of a mishap, deemed the dogs too much of a distraction for the kids crossing
the road. The chap was an ex-copper and was helping out with the crossing in his retirement. He used
to take his dogs along in order to walk them after finishing his shift.

There is now no lollipop service in the village as the position has not been filled.

We are going the way of the states.

Simon

Robert Bruce said:

news.bbc.co.uk3481735.stmOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

<<Children in Wales are being given special "lessons" in how to have fun outdoors amid worries that
a generation is growing up scared of playing outside.>>

Quoted message said:

Interesting little news item. Funny how it carefully skirts around the issue of *why* kids are
scared of the outdoors. It couldn't be because their parents and the mass media have been
drumming exaggerated tales of bogeymen and horrific accidents into them for a couple of decades
now, could it?

A decade ago I lived near the local bonsai mountain, and often talked folk into afternnon
"expeditions" up it. I sometimes got asked by women friends if I would include a portly couch potato
son for the good of his health. Glad to. And then in subsequent weeks, making arrangements with the
portly kid I would discover that he "couldn't come today because Mum couldn't drive him" or "Dad
can't pick me up afterwards today". The kid was unable to come to my house, or other meeting place,
on his own, because the "streets were dangerous" and "he wasn't allowed to". We're talking about
kids in the 10-12 age range. When these kids did come, it was also clear that they and their mothers
never visited "outdoors" for more than five minutes a time, because neither had the foggiest idea of
what was suitable outdoor wear for a day on which it might rain, and one was more than five minutes
from the nearest indoors.

These kids were basically domesticated animals who weren't allowed outside without a lead.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Paul Lydon said:

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on
our wheels.

We had bits of cereal packet on our chainstays to make motorbike noises. And we used to practise
jumping off when the bike was going fast (this actually saved me from road rash once...the verge is
more inviting than tarmac when the bike develops terminal shimmy at 25mph).

I used to cycle on the 70mph dual carriageway A34 in Berkshire when I was 11, and sometimes rode
along the A339 to Newbury and back to visit the shops (8 miles each way). But there was much less
traffic then (early 1980s), and a bit more respect for human life.

Quoted message said:

These kids were basically domesticated animals who weren't allowed outside without a lead.

When Nathan was four, The Unfit Family joined the Ramblers. Nathan has done the Norfolk Coastal
Path. He's also done the Nar Valley Way, Fen Rivers Walk (Cambridge to King's Lynn) and most of the
Peddars' Way. There's not much of Norfolk he hasn't walked. On a walking holiday in the Highlands,
he was leaping about the mountian paths like a young goat. On the other hand, Vernon & I were like a
pair of old goats ;-) But I digress. My point was our then local GP was most impressed by Nathan's
activities as he said it was really going to stand him in good stead as he got older. He went on to
say how disappointed he was to know how many kids *didn't* exercise as much as needed. He really
felt that there are going to be a lot of heart problems stored up for future years.

Personally I think *part* of the problem is parents (a big part of it too) but another part is the
limitations on sport at school. We've had years of the selling off of school playing fields, plus
not every kid is into ball games (football or rugby) or athletics. For example, Nathan is cr*p at
ball games and until he decided to try cycling, he was very, very unsporty. He "clicked" with
cycling in 2003 when he was hooked by the TdF and watching Tyler Hamilton in particular. Perhaps
the financial incentive I gave him to try out cycling helped a bit too ;-) But with school sports,
unless you like football, rugby, cricket, netball, hockey or athletics, it seems you are
effectively denied the chance to get involved in sports, for the most part. Many a school has
enough grass for a grass track to be set up for cycling during the summer months, but it's not done
to any extent at all.

Cheers, helen s

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On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 11:20:28 +0000, Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]>

wrote in message : said:

I used to cycle on the 70mph dual carriageway A34 in Berkshire when I was 11,

We are not worthy!

That road scares the [censored] out of me in my /Volvo/ FFS!

Guy
===
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88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at the University of Washington.

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

For example, Nathan is cr*p at ball games and until he decided to try cycling, he was very, very
unsporty.

Me, my partner, and loads of our friends have worn glasses since we were young. We've all got
horror stories of team, ball games because there's the problem of whether to wear glasses and risk
breaking them, or go without, see poorly and risk the wrath of your team mates when the inevitable
fumble happens.

We want to find suitable activities that could be done by kids with some visual impairment. As well
as cycling (Yay!) we came up with ideas like soft martial arts like Tai Chi which can promote an
understanding of the body's movements. Yoga, too. We even went as far as juggling, but thought that
was too out there.

Joining the Ramblers sounds a fantastic way of getting your son into physical activity. Any regular
walking is, as your GP says, a very good thing.

Alex

Chillies said:

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

For example, Nathan is cr*p at ball games and until he decided to try cycling, he was very, very
unsporty.

Quoted message said:

Me, my partner, and loads of our friends have worn glasses since we were young. We've all got
horror stories of team, ball games because there's the problem of whether to wear glasses and risk
breaking them, or go without, see poorly and risk the wrath of your team mates when the inevitable
fumble happens.

Quoted message said:

We want to find suitable activities that could be done by kids with some visual impairment. As well
as cycling (Yay!) we came up with ideas like soft martial arts like Tai Chi which can promote an
understanding of the body's movements. Yoga, too. We even went as far as juggling, but thought that
was too out there.

Quoted message said:

Joining the Ramblers sounds a fantastic way of getting your son into physical activity. Any regular
walking is, as your GP says, a very good thing.

I've always found most kids like bouldering, i.e. climbing on rocks too low to harm you if you fell
off. This naturally progresses to a) indoor artificial wall climbing with top ropes, and b)
scrambling, which is climbing craggy stuff sufficiently easy that you won't come to harm in the
unlikely event of slipping. All these are strenuous and use a wider variety of muscles than most
sports. It seems a natural extension of the climbing frame stuff that young kids like.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Chillies said:

We even went as far as juggling, but thought that was too out there.

Why?

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
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"AndyMorris" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:c0p5fr$101$2
@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk:

Quoted message said:

Chillies said:

We even went as far as juggling, but thought that was too out there.

Why?

He juggled live chickens.

Graeme

Chillies <[email hidden]> wrote in news:c0ob61$id0$1
@news8.svr.pol.co.uk:

Quoted message said:

Me, my partner, and loads of our friends have worn glasses since we were young. We've all got
horror stories of team, ball games because there's the problem of whether to wear glasses and risk
breaking them, or go without, see poorly and risk the wrath of your team mates when the inevitable
fumble happens.

Yep, that was one of the reasons I hated team sports at school. Our school was (is?) a rugby playing
school. You can't wear glasses playing rugby and you can't play rugby without glasses if you need
them. In the 3 years I played it I only got my hands on the ball once during a game and I didn't
have a clue where to pass it as I couldn't make out who was on my own team. The others learnt pretty
fast not to let me have the ball.

That's probably the main reason why my sports/activities are kayaking
[1], cycling and hill walking. They are primarily individual sports, yes there are other people
doing it at the same time, but they're not relying on you to accurately pass a ball or something
(maybe save each others lives now and again but that's easy by comparison :-) Plus you can wear
your glasses when diong them. In our university canoe club it was *very* common for people to say
they hated team sports at school for various reasons, e.g. wearing glasses, not being in the "in
crowd" etc. and how they loved to be able to do something at last.

School sports tend to encourage team work, but they do sod all to address the fact that they exclude
a significant proportion of kids from many of the activities. Unfortunately the more inclusive
"individual" sports can be more expensive, more time consuming and not best fitted to the school
environment.

Graeme

[2] Okay, I've since been a member of a fairly good canoe polo team, so in a roundabout way I did
finally play an active part in a sports team of some sort.

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 17:47:39 +0000, Chillies <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

We want to find suitable activities that could be done by kids with some visual impairment. As well
as cycling (Yay!) we came up with ideas like soft martial arts like Tai Chi which can promote an
understanding of the body's movements. Yoga, too.

Tai Chi and yoga may be too dull for most children. If the child is physical (s)he will almost
certainly love judo. Visual impairment is not a great handicap in judo unless it's very severe.

Quoted message said:

Joining the Ramblers sounds a fantastic way of getting your son into physical activity. Any regular
walking is, as your GP says, a very good thing.

Walking is a superb activity for building a solid aerobic base.

--
Dave...

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live. - Mark Twain

"Graeme" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Yep, that was one of the reasons I hated team sports at school. Our school was (is?) a rugby
playing school.

Heh! I was so [censored] at Rugger they put me on the sailing squad - result!

--
Guy
===

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"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:c0qcmo
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Heh! I was so [censored] at Rugger they put me on the sailing squad - result!

I was probably equally [censored], but my reward was to be left wandering aimlessly around the field. Even
then I was over 6' so I kind of stood out like a sore thumb. I wish sailing had been an option!

Graeme

On 16/2/04 12:42 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Graeme"

Quoted message said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:c0qcmo
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Heh! I was so [censored] at Rugger they put me on the sailing squad - result!

I was probably equally [censored], but my reward was to be left wandering aimlessly around the
field. Even then I was over 6' so I kind of stood out like a sore thumb. I wish sailing had
been an option!

I was a passable B-team player in rugby but found the river to be a lot more fun. One of the few
games activities where you had to qualify to participate.

many afternoons spend sweating guts out on the river in rain, shine or ice.

..d

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was a passable B-team player in rugby but found the river to be a lot

more

Quoted message said:

fun. One of the few games activities where you had to qualify to participate.

I'm tempted to try rowing - there are several clubs on the Thames near me. But the sport I really
wanted to do at school was shooting. The only sport the school offered[1] which could be done
lying down :-)

[1] on the official curriculum, anyway, and the opportunities for the other sort were severely
limited due to there being only about six gurls in the entire skool chiz.

--
Guy
===

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On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 14:17:36 -0000, in
<[email hidden]>, "Just zis Guy, you know?"

Quoted message said:

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was a passable B-team player in rugby but found the river to be a lot

more

Quoted message said:

fun. One of the few games activities where you had to qualify to participate.

I'm tempted to try rowing - there are several clubs on the Thames near me. But the sport I really
wanted to do at school was shooting. The only sport the school offered[1] which could be done
lying down :-)

[1] on the official curriculum, anyway, and the opportunities for the other sort were severely
limited due to there being only about six gurls in the entire skool chiz.

In my 5th year I opted for cross country running (which was actually a walk via the local newsagent)

In my 6th/7th years I did ballroom dancing at the local girls school.

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AndyMorris said:

Chillies said:

We even went as far as juggling, but thought that was too out there.

Why?

Nothing to do with chickens ... we were considering those activities which could be, if not team
games, those having significant inter-personal contact. We guessed that juggling is too
individualistic, but that's probably mistaken.

Alex

Dave Kahn said:

Tai Chi and yoga may be too dull for most children. If the child is physical (s)he will almost
certainly love judo. Visual impairment is not a great handicap in judo unless it's very severe.

It depends on what type of Tai Chi you're thinking about. If it's standing round acting like a tree
or the kind lampooned in "Teachers", then one only sees the benefit over a long time, and it may not
be suitable for kids with their short attention spans. Tai Chi with lots of partner-work, pushing
hands and applications may be enough of an activity to keep their attention. OTOH there's probably
an established base of Judo-for-kids teachers already.

Thanks! Alex