Stories

Summer vacation. Do you remember yours, especially when you were in elementary school? Do you remember the feeling on that last day of school, when the entire summer stretched out before you? I certainly do. Summer vacation was a special time, and my friends and I knew we would fill it with new adventures. Riding bikes, pickup games of baseball, going to the beach, sleeping overnight in the fort we made above my friend’s garage, going to the candy or ice cream store – these were the joys of summer.

Of course, the current generation of children are growing up in a different world than I did. Children today are exposed to a preponderance of digital and virtual experiences that are viewed by many as harmful. Jonathan Haidt, in his new book The Anxious Generation, argues that rising anxiety in children is caused in part by this disconnection from nature and the real world. He offers several solutions to this problem and the opportunity to join a movement to help kids lead healthier lives, all of which require a countercultural stance from parents.  

If you also believe your children need more free time and a deeper connection to nature and the real world, Haidt’s book and resources may be useful. And summer is a good time to connect kids with analog experiences, more freedom, nature, and unstructured play. You probably only need to recall your own summer vacations to remember what childhood in the pre or early digital world was like. Other natural allies, like grandparents, can recall their own childhoods and help connect your children to these types of experiences.

We know for sure that children benefit from these old-fashioned and time-tested summers. With this in mind, I wish you and your children a happy and healthy summer filled with plenty of joyful experiences that your children will always remember and carry into their adult lives.