Kids Are Missing
Nancy and I have been driving around neighborhoods a lot lately. We just finished remodeling the kitchen, 
rebuilding the back deck, and adding lots of fresh paint and trim to our house, and now are considering a move closer to the day job. As we drove, we saw a lot of well-groomed homes with beautiful landscaping on quiet, inviting, empty streets. There aren’t any kids outside, anywhere. Remember the days when parents had to stick their head out the door and holler to get a child to come in for dinner?
If you ask anyone over the age of 40, they will tell you that the first thing they did on a non-school day was rise and head for the front door. Parents, they will tell you, didn’t see them again until they got hungry, or the streetlights lit. Any activity was preferred to being in the house. Children gathered for a game of Kick-The-Can, Sandlot Baseball, Tag, or bike riding, anything that kept them outside and moving. Not so much today.
Kids Need To Learn What Fun Can Be
According to a Time Magazine article by Lily Rothman, on average, a child will sit in front of the TV for 35 hours
every week. iKeepsafe.org reports that youngsters spend an average of 44.5 hours each week on gaming or internet. With only 168 hours in a week, and if the average school day in America is between 6 and 7 hours, or 35 hours a week, it becomes apparent why our streets are so quiet. Add to the list 8 hours of sleep and the week is gone. Children don’t see the light of day.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), children of all ages need at least 60 minutes exercise each day. Running, jumping rope, and muscle building should be included in the 60 minutes to get a well-toned, healthy body. Sixty minutes, today seems like a lot when you consider all of the competing activities. Let’s all grab our child by the hand and lead them in a good ole fashioned fun game of Kick-The-Can. Fun is a learned skill.