Go Outside and Play!

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

OK, from the title, you may be thinking this belongs in Risa. It's just an attention grabber, sorry I upsetted some of you. :)

 

Anywho, let's get to the post, eh? Is it just me, or do kids spend WAY too much time on the couch? They sit and listen to music, they sit and play video games, they sit and watch TV, they sit and watch movies or they sit at the movie theater. People then wonder why our children are fat and lazy. I'm not pointing fingers nor saying America's children are fat and lazy. All I'm saying is that I think that today's youth spends far too much time infront of the TV or on the couch and not enough time outside or living life and spending time with real people.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I have a lot of music CD's and I love movies. I don't want to spend too much money and time on home entertainment so I decided that I could have music CD's, movies... and one other theme. It was my Playstation games or season sets. Of coase, I picked season sets. It's all about time management and making good choices and so on.

 

So, share your thoughts on this topic and also share with us what your home entertainment consists of. I've allready shared my thoughts on this topic, so I'll share what m home entertainment consists of:

 

Music CD's (mostly soundtracks)

Season Sets (just Star Trek and Stargate)

Movies (most on DVD)

[Indy 8]

Some kids are like that. I think there are a lot of reasons for it. Computers and video games and the availability of TV and movies are indeed part of it. Also, a lot of kid's diets consist of a large amount of junk food. Then there's also the lack of a good PE program in school. It may be different for you, but in my kid's elementary school PE consisted of the kids being told to go outside and play. There were no organized sports or adult-led exercising at all.

 

Ok, to answer your question, we have a LOT of movies and music CDs here at home. BUT, I also have two very active teenaged girls, and honestly, the amount of time they spend sitting on the couch is minimal. I think if you provide children with other opportunities, most will choose more social activities. My kids prefer activities with others their own age rather than vegetating on the couch alone watching a movie. Even it there's a group watching a movie, it usually gets overshadowed by discussion (or gossip) and they lose interest in the TV. I think when kids do nothing but watch TV and such it is because they have NOTHING else to do, they haven't been given opportunities to explore other options.

 

So this is what we have in our home:

 

Music CDs (mostly of people I've never heard of)

Season Sets (those are mine and are TNG and DS9)

Movies (ranging from Disney to Star Trek)

[Theunicornhunter 2]

When both parents are at work children are under strict rules to go home, lock the doors and don't open them for anyone. So what are your options - computer or tv. When the parents get home its dark.

 

There is another thread about obesity - plus there was a program on PBS last night about childhood obesity. Besides no exercise they eat too much junk food, fast food, frozen/prepared food. Wouldn't it be nice if one partner could make enough money so the other could be home when the kids got home, prepare fresh food for dinner and supervise the children playing in the back yard.

 

I don't know what high school PE classes are now but they were a joke when I was in school. Too much emphasis on competitive sports and no, zilch, nada instruction on personal fitness.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Well, this isn't about obesity, it's about today's youth spending too much time sitting arround inside and not going outside and doing something. Yes, having both parents working can make this a problem. However, what ever happened to their children spending time with the neighbors or going out with their friends and their mother or something?

[Indy 8]

I'm a firm believer in the 'It takes a village' theory. Where there's a will, there's a way. There is usually some sort of support system parents can take advantage of, whether it be grandparents, other extended family, or even neighbors. If a child has an interest in an extracurricular activity and can partake in that activity during the after-school hours, something can be arranged. From my experience, if the child is determined and interested enough, it is almost impossible to deny them the opportunity to participate.

[ensign_beedrill 0]

Amazing, considering how bad children's programming is these days. When I was a kid, Saturday morning cartoons were worth getting up early to watch. I remember playing a lot. I rode my bike a lot. That was great.

 

[RANT]

Hey... why don't kids wear helmets anymore? I've noticed that... kids don't wear helmets. It's annoying. I'm driving around and I see a kid on a bike and he's not wearing a helmet. I just want to run him over. Grr. OK, I've never actually run over a kid...

[/RANT]

 

I think part of it has to do with parents. They just tell their kid to go sit down in front of the TV. Sometimes it has to do with homework. When I was little, I never had any homework, but for some reason, now kids are getting all of this homework... it just amazes me. And they have to do their homework before they can play and by the time it's done, it's dark out. And besides, who wants to go outside when you can get on the computer? I love my computer. Maybe a little too much... but I have an excuse! A lot of time and sweat and blood (well, maybe not blood) went into constructing that thing. He's my masterpiece. My work of art.

 

As for PE... that was always a joke. Especially in high school. There were two groups of people. The people who didn't care and didn't do a thing and the people who were all competitive and didn't let anyone else play. I didn't fit into either group, so I didn't get to do much. I remember one time in middle school I had this evil PE teacher. We had these skills tests. One of them was you got five chances to shoot a basketball. If you got four out of the five into the basket, you got an A and so on down the line. I can't shoot a basketball... I got an F. Then there was this one time we had to run a mile in 49 degrees Celsius heat. (Don't ask me what that is in Fahrenheit, I don't know. It's just really, really hot.)

 

As for what I have...

 

CDs: A bunch. Most of them country. Some are soundtracks.

DVDs: I own one DVD... and it's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

[Red Shirt Volunteer 0]

49 C? Where do/did you live (at least at that time)?

[Goose 0]

Stardate:213674.9

 

 

 

 

I think it mostly has to do with video games.A few years ago i know video games were my life.All i did all day was sit in front of the tv and play the playstation.But i got tired of it afterwhile and grew up.Now i would much rather go outside and do something than sit in front of the Tv.As a matter of fact im looking at my PS2 right now and it has a thick layer of dust on it.Im begginging to think i wasted money buying it as i hardley ever play it.Of course i dont have much time to play games.Especially now with school.Cause after school gets out i go to work.By the time i get off of work its about 10:00 pm and i get on here,make some posts then go to bed.Then on my days off after school i cruise around with friends and do whatever and still dont get back till about 10:00 :)

 

As far as PE programs go i guess i am fortunate to go to such a good school.Our programs are very good.As a matter of fact i just got into my 5th semester of weight traning and i am very sore right now

 

Oh yeah and my collection is

 

Music Cd's-All kinds of stuff all downloaded and burned

Season Sets-TNG and DS9

Movies-A variety of stuff

Edited September 4, 2003 by geranimo

[Stelfan 0]

These days children sit at their computers and chat with people, that way they never really have to meet someone "real" at all..

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

These days children sit at their computers and chat with people, that way they never really have to meet someone "real" at all..

That's exactly the kind of reason why I started this thread... Sad, isn't it?

[Theunicornhunter 2]

So do kids not play outside because they play on the computer or do they play on the computer because their parents won't let them outside?

 

The world is different than when I was a kid. When I was a kid we would get together and go on "adventures". There was an old ravine in town that has since been converted into a state park. This was about a mile way from our homes. We'd go running around on those trails and swinging bridges playing Tarzan or something. There is no way whatsover I would let a child of mine go down there and play today. (and today they have park personnel). But now we're aware of the crazies in the world and we make sure we know where our kids are. Good grief I wasn't even a particularly adventurous child - although I did get hit by a car when we were out playing and we used to ride our bikes in the mosquito spray :lol:

 

Now people drive faster, teenagers (who didn't have cars when I was a teenager) drive while occupied with their cell phone. Some kid here killed a little girl and her mother was just a few feet away. No way would I let my kid ride a bike on streets around here. So the whole family has to pack up their bikes and go to a bicycle path. I've also seen Rottweilers patrolling the streets - another reason not to go walking. A couple of years ago I was out taking a walk and a very large dog ran towards me - scared me to death until he whizzed right by. Then I looked across the street and saw what he was running from. Thank goodness I had my car keys because I was closer to the car than the house and I had to sit in my car until the owner finally came out and got his dog.

 

The point is - its a dangerous world and that is at least part of the reason parents don't want their children outside.

Edited September 4, 2003 by TheUnicornHunter

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Still, I can't believe the world is "too dangerous" to go out and play in the backyard. A lot of things you listed make perfect sense. However, I live in quite a safe place, and kids still spend all their time inside. I live in a beautiful place, it's a shame kids won't go out and enjoy it. Also, another thing that bugs me is that kids can't play in the woods anymore. Everywhere I go out here, there's No Trespassing signs all over the trees by the road. It's sad, I mean, you can't go into any woods, because all of it is private property. Anywho, just my 2 cents...

[APW 0]

Watching too much tv was never a problem for me and my sibs...

My parents strictly monitored how much tv we watched and what we watched....

And besides,when you live on a working farm,there really isn't a lot of time for tv....

I watched Star Trek:TNG fairly regularly (we were all allowed 2 shows,that we could watch everytime they came on...chores done or no)....the rest of the time the set was off or my dad was in control.... :lol:

as a result I grew up a radio junkie....news,sports,music,I learned it all from the radio....

^_^ Its too bad kids spend so much time indoors,though...we are becoming an increasingly introverted and obese nation...

maybe it has something to do with how dangerous it is for kids nowadays....gangs and kidnappers and random acts of violence and such... ^_^ ?

[ensign_beedrill 0]

49 C?  Where do/did you live (at least at that time)?

I lived in a tiny little country called Kuwait. Ever heard of it? Its name has been mentioned in many news stories lately. I only lived there a year and a half... and that is enough. In fact, it's too much. I liked some of the food, though.

 

The funny thing is, that businesses and schools and stuff are supposed to close and let people go home if it reaches 50 degrees C. However, the official thermometer only registers up to 49 degrees C. Anyway, that's the story I heard.

[ensign_beedrill 0]

Cause after school gets out i go to work.By the time i get off of work its about 10:00 pm and i get on here,make some posts then go to bed.

When do you do homework? Just curious.

[Sam The Smuggler 1]

When I Was A Kid, Hell We Lived In The Woods More Or Less.

 

We Had A Pretyy Big Yard, Lots Of Room To Play...And We Did...It Was Great.

Our Dad Even Built Us A Tree House..Hehe...I Can't Tell You How Many Times I Fell Off Of That Thing...But I Was Never Scared To Climb Back Up

 

Surrounding Us Was Trees, Trees, And More Trees....Farm Land Too.

We Used To Play In The Woods Too. Had Lots Of Fun

 

And Even Though We Had Video Games (Atari,NES,Sega Genesis), we Still found time to go outside...and we used to stay out after Dark on the weekends during School Months....and alot durning The summer.

 

When I Was 14, We Moved To A Neighbor Hood. There Were Some Woods There Too. And We The New Friends We Made There Spent Alot Of Time In There Playing Star Wars, Star Trek, And Other Fantasical Settings, lol

 

Even Now At 23 Years Old, I Still Go Out To The Woods Here To Go Hiking. I Love Ot Out There.

 

 

I'm Hoping My Nieces And Nephew Will Have The Chance To Enjoy Playing Outside As My Brothers And I Did.

 

As For What I Have

 

Music CDs (Mostly Heavy Metal)

DVDs (Season sets And Movies)

VHS (Movies And Episodes)

PS1 And PS2 Games

PCGames

GameCube Games

[trekkergirl220 0]

I'm currently a teenager. I agree with everyone that todays kids/teens are spending to much time indoors and are not very fit, although that doesn't mean everyone everywhere is. I have a great nighborhood with a bunch of kids, and a great large yards/woods. Plus we're right by the ocean. So in the area where I live, we don't have much of a problem with laziness and obesity. I don't have cable, so I really don't watch that much t.v at all, with the exception of star trek, (which I either go to the hospital where my dad works, and watch it there, or watch it on dvd). I don't have that much music to listen to, and what I do listen to it at night usually, so no problems there, also, I don't have video games. The only time I'm on the computer is basically for startrekfans.net, star trekhaven or instant messaging, all of which I've tried to cut down on the time I spend there because its interfereing with my hw a little. And although I have made a lot of friends over the web, I still have a bunch of real friends and know real people.

 

btw, I'm not trying to be defending today's teens or anything, I know that kind of wht it sounds like, because actually, it is the sad truth. I'm just saying what I'm like.

 

I think its mostly the fault of todays electronic media and the amount of things available to kids, such as computers and video games, maybe if all that weren't around, kids who stayed in side would get out more. and then the fact that if you live in dangerous neighborhoods, maybe parents wouldn't want there children to go outside, which I can understand.

 

I don't know what high school PE classes are now but they were a joke when I was in school.  Too much emphasis on competitive sports and no, zilch, nada instruction on personal fitness. 

 

I think thaty that still is a little of the case at elast at my school) they require you to take a sport every trimester, and its really competitive. Although I tlike sports, and I play a lot of them, even without them being requied, I still wish there was more instruction on fitness.

[Indy 8]

Yeah, the world is a dangerous place. But that doesn't mean you lock yourself up and throw away the key. What kind of life is that? Heck, my youngest just moved to a big city without the "parental units" (as she so fondly calls us). Whether it be a big city, or out in the woods, there are precautions children can take and should be educated about. They should be in groups, never alone. They should be constantly aware of who and what is around them. If they are approached by a strange person, they should make a lot of noise and draw attention to themselves. If they feel they are in real danger, they should yell "FIRE". And they should never, ever, EVER be out alone at night.

 

There is a world out there to be experienced. It is a shame we have to inform our children that there are people out there that don't have their best interests in mind. But it is a fact of our life today. Children should be informed of this in an age-appropriate way and prepared for different scenarios, but they shouldn't be forbidden from experiencing things.

Edited September 7, 2003 by Indy

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Times have changed, but children have allways been in danger.

 

Instead of native americans, bears, snakes, wild animals, heat spells, drouts, and so forth... now the dangers are being hit by a car, kidnapped, raped, being shot at, and so on. The dangers have allways been there, they've just taken on a new form. Wherever you live, there will be dangers in their own form. You can't just lock your kids up all day nor live like a hermit. Yes, there are dangers, but how can one live if they live in fear and hiding all day?

[Indy 8]

Times have changed, but children have allways been in danger.

 

Instead of native americans, bears, snakes, wild animals, heat spells, drouts, and so forth...  now the dangers are being hit by a car, kidnapped, raped, being shot at, and so on.  The dangers have allways been there, they've just taken on a new form.  Wherever you live, there will be dangers in their own form.  You can't just lock your kids up all day nor live like a hermit.  Yes, there are dangers, but how can one live if they live in fear and hiding all day?

I totally agree. In fact, that was another thing I was going to point out. But it musta slipped my ancient mind.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Samantha Runyon was sitting outside her front door with a friend. She screamed, she fought back, everything a child is told to do. I think they ever found his skin under her fingernails. Parents are afraid for a reason.

 

I still say the change to both parents working and neither being home is a big factor in not wanting kids to go outside.

 

And then there's the fact the where I live it is incredibly hot and humid. When I was a kid we didn't have a/c but now who wants to ride their bike when its 98F?

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I ride my bike when it's 90 degrees out, as long as I have lots of water, I'm good to go.

 

Anywho, if someone's abducted from their porch... Well, it's obviously time to get a big dangerous dog that obeys your every command to avoid innocent people from getting attacked. Anywho, if both parents work, hire a babysitter. Not someone to "raise your kids", but more of a super-viser role, just there to keep the kids safe and out of trouble.

 

Anywho, even if both parents work, I think it's wrong to lock your kids up. You can't live in fear. People are going to get kidnapped, you can't go through life being affraid it will be you. If you're worried about being abducted, train your kids how to evade such a situation, arm them with pepperspray, get a big dog like a German Sheaperd, and so on.

 

I just think it's silly to live in fear and never go outside as a result.

[trekzone 0]

i think we sit on our bums to much.......i get a bit at least