I came across this blog post last night with this great photograph.
The writer says they saw the sign outside a camp in Oklahoma. The point of the article is thought provoking and disturbing--people are actually suggesting that some benefits to kids from nature can be duplicated virtually??
The need for students to have TIME to be creative, to discover, to learn to resolve conflicts, to make decisions independently as well as collaboratively with peers in complex, unpredictable environments is vital– not optional. Dr. Yong Zhao, in his closing keynote at BLC07, mentioned how video game environments now provide some of the only opportunities some young people have to be in these types of situations today (albeit virtual, rather than natural.) Kids NEED opportunities to live life an unscripted contexts outside the constant, direct supervision and CONTROL of adults.Let's do what we can to make sure these unstructured activities are done outdoors and not in some virtual environment!
