Who spends more time outside, a child... or a maximum-security prisoner? Watch this film to find out.
We've gotten to the point where children spend less time outside each day than prison inmates do in the United States. Inmates are guaranteed two hours of outdoor time daily, whereas one in two children is outside for less than an hour each day. A recent survey of 12,000 parents in 10 countries (United States, Brazil, U.K., Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and India), who have children aged 5 to 12, found that one-third of kids spend under 30 minutes outside each day.
The short film above reveals how important it is for inmates to have their outdoor time on a daily basis and how surprised they are to learn that kids get even less. The inmates describe daily outdoors time as “probably the most important part of my day... It keeps my mind right, keeps my body strong.”
This new survey reiterates what we’ve been hearing from many different sources – that kids are spending far too much time in the house watching screens, instead of engaging in free play outdoors, using their imaginations and getting dirty. It's unfortunate that it takes a comparison to prison inmates to make us realize how little time outdoors children are experiencing. As one prisoner said:
We've gotten to the point where children spend less time outside each day than prison inmates do in the United States. Inmates are guaranteed two hours of outdoor time daily, whereas one in two children is outside for less than an hour each day. A recent survey of 12,000 parents in 10 countries (United States, Brazil, U.K., Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and India), who have children aged 5 to 12, found that one-third of kids spend under 30 minutes outside each day.
The short film above reveals how important it is for inmates to have their outdoor time on a daily basis and how surprised they are to learn that kids get even less. The inmates describe daily outdoors time as “probably the most important part of my day... It keeps my mind right, keeps my body strong.”
“I didn’t know what freedom was until it was taken from me. It’s devastating... 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.”Whatever the cause of children’s reduction in time outdoors (excessive rigidity in schools; increased time on electronic devices; parental fears about their child’s safety; etc.), experts agree it’s a problem that must be addressed.
From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),
Paul J. Staso
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Visit my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/user/pacetrek
Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
- United States in 2006 (3,260 miles solo in 108 days at age 41)
- Montana in 2008 (620 miles solo in 20 days at age 43)
- Alaska in 2009 (500 miles solo in 18 days at age 44)
- Germany in 2010 (500 miles solo in 21 days at age 45)
- The Mojave Desert in 2011 (506 miles solo in 17 days at age 46)
- Various Photos From Mileposts Gone By
- Students Worldwide Who Ran With Me Virtually
- Roadside Sights From My Running Adventures
- Some Cycling Moments From The Past
