Mom, what's a tree?

My best memories from my childhood were of the time I spent outdoors camping with my family, going on hikes and learning all about the wonders of nature through the Scout movement.

Through scouting we learned to survive in the great outdoors, to leave a campsite cleaner then when we arrived but most of all we learned to care about our environment and the protection of it.

This is why I was concerned when I read in the Economist of young American's marked decline of interest in the great outdoors.

If young people do not learn about the wonders of nature it will be detrimental not only to their physical health but also to our earth. You cannot care about something you do not know.

As described in the Economist, efforts have been made by the American National Wildlife Federation to encourage parents and children to spend more time outdoors as well as the grassroots campaign, “No Child Left Inside”.

These ventures are encouraging signs but often these types of programs are only taken up by families that are already doing activities in the outdoors with their children.

As was reported by Unicef this past week children in the U.S. are almost at the bottom of the list of 21 of the world’s rich countries in terms of child poverty.

It is easy to say that parents should spend more time outside with their children but more difficult when faced with the reality of working multiple jobs, dealing with deteriorating family relationships and urban concentration of population.

Unfortunately, children are becoming masters of the concrete jungle and nature is miles away from their developing minds.