- Develop a plan to get yourself and the kids outdoors more often.
- There are 958 million texts sent per hour: That’s 8.4 trillion a year!
- Cyberbullying, stalking, and the spread of misinformation: all from uncontrolled social media.
- The mental health of kids and adults is suffering because of all the time spent on social media.
By Larry Whiteley
If you grew up in the 1950s, 60s, or even early 70s, things were a whole lot different for kids. When you rode your bicycle, you wore no helmet. We even hitchhiked with strangers and did not worry about it. We rode in cars or trucks with no seat belts or airbags. There were no car seats when we were little. We stood up in the seat beside our parents. Riding in the bed of a pickup truck while it was moving was always fun.
Some drank water from a garden hose, not a plastic bottle. We shared a bottle of pop containing real sugar with friends. We ate lots of cakes, pies, white bread, and real butter. We weren’t overweight because we were always outside playing and doing things.
We would leave home in the morning and be gone all day. No one was able to reach us, and we were okay. As long as we were home for supper, our parents did not worry.
Girls made mud pies, jumped rope, played jacks or tiddlywinks, played with dolls, and played house. We boys dug up worms and went off fishing by ourselves or with buddies. Gigging frogs at night was a lot of fun, too. We took our single-shot .22 rifle and went off to the woods to hunt squirrels. There was no hunter education back then. We learned by doing. We became good hunters because we had to make every shot count. The frog legs, rabbits, squirrels, and fried fish helped feed our family sometimes.
Some of us spent hours building a go-cart out of scraps and then rode it down a hill only to remember we forgot the brakes. After running into trees and bushes a few times, we would solve our own problems. We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones and teeth without calling 911. There were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We spent hours building forts or playhouses. Some of us pretended we were fighting Indians or soldiers fighting a war. We also made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and even though we were told it would happen, no one’s eyes got poked out.
We rode our bikes or walked to a friend’s house, even if it was on the other side of town. We knocked on the door because there was no doorbell, or we just yelled for them. There were no security cameras.
We did not have video games, surround sound or streaming TV, and we did not have to pay to watch TV back then. There were also no smartphones, text messaging, personal computers, internet, or chat rooms. However, we had friends—real friends. We went outside often and found them.
Those generations of men and women were part of an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success, productivity and responsibility. We learned how to deal with it all. That was all before lawyers and the government regulated our lives, supposedly for our own good.
All of the above partly describes yesterday’s world, which many of us were privileged to have grown up in. Today’s world is a whole lot different, and not necessarily for the better.
Today, children and adolescents spend a lot of time watching screens, including smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, TVs, and computers. On average, children ages 8-12 in the United States spend 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens. Teenagers spend up to 9 hours. Most adults spend almost 2½ hours a day, which adds up to almost a month every year. If social media is a big part of their job, it is much higher.
In the world, there are 958 million texts sent per hour, which equates to 8.4 trillion a year. There are 9.7 million Facebook messages sent every minute. TikTok posts 34 million messages a day. Some 93 million selfies are sent over social media each year, and the number is growing. Time spent on social media has become an addiction.
The mental health of kids and adults is suffering because of all the time spent on social media. Kids are growing up with more anxiety and less self-esteem because of harmful content. Cyberbullying and stalking are leading to kids and adults taking their own life. The spread of misinformation has destroyed the lives of some people.
There are good things about the technological world we live in today. I am using my computer to write this story. As I write this, I use it to look up statistics and other information. I use an app that checks my spelling, punctuation, and grammar. When this story is done, I will email it to my choice of websites, blogs, and online or print magazines and newspapers I write for. I do not use Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or other social media. Every year, 4 out of 10 adults become victims of fraud attacks. I do not want to be one of them.
I get emails and texts on my smartphone. I can ask it a question, and it will take me to where I can find my answer. I make calls on it and answer calls if I know who is calling. If not, I do not answer because I do not trust it.
My smartphone also helps me take pictures I can use in my stories and family pictures. I look at pictures of kids and grandkids and think about all the memories of when they were little. So that is a good thing.
I will use my smartphone to get on YouTube if I want to watch a video on how to fix something. Or, if I want to watch what fellow Christian and country boy Buddy Brown has to say about what is happening in the world. Or, watch our church Sunday services when I cannot be there.
I do have a few apps I depend on. I use it most to check the weather app before going on hunting, fishing, or camping trips. Even if I need to mow or get work done around the house, I use it. I can see it day by day and hour by hour. Mostly, I scroll the radar across to see how the weather is going to be where I am going to be.
I also use Missouri Department of Conservation apps for hunting tags, fishing permits, and seasons – and to find information about camping and hiking areas. My map apps help me get to those places and get back home again.
So, some technology is helpful. However, I do not consider most of the other technologies I have mentioned as personally good for me. I worry about what it is doing to you who are reading this, as well as to our kids.
Technology is making it more difficult for adults and kids to get away from their screens and outdoors into nature. Research has proven that outdoor time is essential for kid’s mental health, physical development, and overall well-being.
Spending time outdoors allows children to connect with nature and explore, which helps foster their imagination and creativity. It also promotes physical activity, helping kids develop their motor skills and maintain a healthy weight. In addition, it boosts their cardiovascular health and strengthens their immune system.
Too much time in front of screens can contribute to a lack of physical activity and an increased risk of obesity. It also hinders the development of motor skills. Children tap and scroll rather than being active outdoors. All that screen time also affects mental health because of less social interaction, poor sleep quality, and increased feelings of anxiety and depression. Getting them and you out fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities will help create a healthy balance between screen time and the great outdoors.
Make it a priority to spend time together as a family outdoors doing activities that everyone enjoys. Set an example for your children about the importance of getting outdoors for their well-being. Create limits on screen time. Make outdoor playtime exciting and engaging for your child. Prioritizing the outdoors promotes a healthy and balanced lifestyle for your family. You will also be benefiting yourself.
If you want to know more, all these statistics, facts, and other information are on your smartphone or computer. Just don’t take too much screen time doing it.
The soothing sounds of birds singing, flowing water, geese honking overhead, and wind blowing through the trees await you. The sights of majestic mountains, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, butterflies, wildflowers, and eagles flying in the sky are all out there. The feel of a fish on the end of your line. The beauty of a night sky filled with millions of stars as you sit around a campfire watching the flames dance. All that and more is outdoors waiting for you, your kids, and grandkids.
Limited use of smartphones is acceptable on outdoor adventures, but only for taking nature pictures and recording the sounds of nature. They can enjoy these later and hopefully share them with friends and family to help get them away from screens and into the great outdoors.
As much as I would like to sometimes, I cannot go back to the simpler times of the yesterday I grew up in. I can limit my own screen time in the world of today. I can get outdoors to recharge my body and my soul. I hope you also learn to do that for your own sake and that of your family.
You will be amazed how your life, and your family’s, will change for the better when you reduce the time you spend in front of a screen and increase the time you spend outdoors in nature.
It’s up to us, parents and grandparents, to offer practical suggestions for encouraging our kids to spend more time outdoors.
The first line of defense (technology parenting) begins at home.