It is worth reading the article about the Zoo Pre-School in the Toledo Blade, as it introduces a concept that has not been discussed much around NEO - No Child Left Inside.

Why is Cleveland always the last to go?

Perhaps, because it is unsafe to go outside around most of the pre-schools around NEO?!?!

A foreign concept

The No Child Left Inside movement isn't an anti-technology campaign, Ms. Charles said, but she and others said children's lives are out of balance when they spend 40 to 60 hours in screen time and very few hours outdoors. Many health-related problems such as childhood obesity are related to the fact that for many children going outside to play is a foreign concept. Because parental worries about safety keep some children indoors, communities could invent new ways to make outdoor play safe, such as neighborhood programs where parents take turns watching over the activities, Ms. Charles said. Activities to reconnect children and nature are being considered in northwest Ohio where a No Child Left Inside initiative has begun, said Olander Park naturalist Sandy Gratop. Goals include developing a Web site, identifying partners interested in participating, and defining local needs, said Mrs. Gratop who recently conducted a No Child Left Inside meeting at Camp Miakonda. "We have a variety of people interested in this initiative from 20 counties and 12 park systems," she said. "Getting outside is good for children. Uncontrolled play is an opportunity to let a child outside and roam and observe. Give them a pile of sand and they will build a mountain."

A widespread effort

Sarah Bodor, coordinator for the No Child Left Inside Coalition in Annapolis, Md., said nearly 1,500 organizations representing 47 million people are involved with efforts to strengthen environmental education in classrooms across the country and to reconnect children with nature.

Disrupt IT

Norm--I have two teachers who especially make heroic efforts to get their kids out of the school.  It's not an easy undertaking. 

One year we had a class in Riverside Cemetery.  I still get kids who come back and remind me of that beautiful fall day.  Riverside Cemetery teaches students about cultural norms, life and death, history, biology, medicine, art, architecture...so many opportunities to learn by freeing ourselves from the classroom.  

Let me AGAIN--parents--plug my neighborhood as the perfect learning experience.  We have Riverside Cemetery, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park--within walking distance.  We have commerce, we have industry, we have a NEIGHBORHOOD.

  I don't live with a constant apprehension about "deadly" pollution.  It's far less noticeable to me now, then  it was during my own childhood.  Parents, teachers, doctors puffing away on cigarettes.  Factories belching smoke day and night. 

Can we do better?  Hell, yes--but I am not going to pretend that our lifestyles don't contribute to the problem.  We have exported the most egregious pollution.  I don't think we can villify one group of people until we change ourselves first.
 

 What environmental factors determine your neighborhood of choice?  We don't need to go all crazy here Norm, but for those folks planting subdivisions in Avon...and even Bay Village...Westlake...I have two words--RADON GAS. 

How about our water--so chlorinated that most kids grow up to develop some autoimmune disorder?  Drink well-water right?  Not good there either as our aquifers can have toxic levels of naturally occuring arsenic, or worse, chemical leachate from buried tanks or septic systems....Ain't life grand!

(personally--i hate zoos and aquariums, but since folks love 'em...and they are not going away...making them educational, makes sense.)