Kids are spending less time outdoors than ever before. It's no secret why, according to Common Sense Media, the average teen spends nine hours a day on average engaged in online media use, and that's not even counting the time spent at school or doing homework. With all of these distractions and obligations, kids and teens have a much lower priority on time spent outdoors, and as a result spend much less time in nature than previous generations. According to The Guardian, they are spending less than half the time outdoors than their parents did, and are actually becoming physically weaker as a result.
Because of the prioritizing of their freetime, the kids are missing out on the inherent psychological and physical benefits from spending time in nature. According to a study in the Journal of Counseling & Development, kids experienced calmness, happiness, and greater self-esteem after participating in a 6-week nature activity, meeting only twice a week. The study also says, "High-energy or ADHD kids, showed improvements with tasks like “focusing, following directions, and completing tasks when children had the opportunity to engage in the natural environment”.
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Created with images by Skitterphoto - "trees hill green" • tinkerbrad - "iPhone work" • DenaliNPS - "Science for Fun" • Janedau - "mountains forrest landscape" • -epsilon- - "Tree"