The Albino Deer
One day when I was walking down the drive to my apartment back in North Carolina I encountered a magnificent albino deer, we looked at each other for a moment and then continued our ways, I bet you can picture the feeling. I read once, the chances of a deer of being albino are about one in 20,000; so imagine the odds of encounter one of them specially if you are not exactly a deer hunter.
A few days ago, while visiting my parents in the same neighborhood I grew up in the South of Spain, I saw a group of kids of different ages playing outside and the same feeling came to my heart. 30 years ago, that neighborhood, as any other in my town was full of children playing soccer, hopscotch, hide and seek, climbing trees, riding bikes…the rule was to play outside until sunset. In summer, we would play outside after dinner and most of the times until midnight. I wonder what our neighbors would say today about the noise of children playing at night.
I often see signs in plazas and squares of my town that ban playing with a ball, skating, jump roping…basically everything we used to do as kids is now forbidden. Nowadays, if I want my children to play outdoors I have to make a play date or take them to a park where helicopter parents will ironically unleash their dogs while limiting their children.
What changed our mind sets? Probably many things did. As parents and educators we seem to be more afraid now than our parents were. I believe Spain is now safer than it used to be. Yes, there are more cars now, but they are more reliable, and streets are better lit. We seem to be more comfortable thinking that our kids are safe at home watching TV or playing video-games and we take for granted what they want and what is best for them.
As social beings, if we let our children play with friends they will always choose that over anything else. The benefits of playing outdoors with friends are numerous, from social and emotional skills to physical development. These are not only key for a healthy adulthood but also many studies show that social outdoor play boosts children’s performance in the classroom.
Today, we cannot send our children out by themselves to play, they will probably struggle to find another child outside, but we can find other parents that are seeking similar experiences for their children, set a time and a proper place (better in nature) to meet every day, set some reasonable safety rules and let them be.
