Screen Time vs. Green Time

My Subaru Forester has a dashboard key. Most cars have remote, but mine instead has a remote-like device that does, indeed, open the doors, but only if you point it backwards, towards the dashboard of the car, from within ten inches or so. So, it can’t really be called a remote. I call it a dashboard key.

I bought the car used, when it was one year old and it was still under warranty, so I took it to the dealer and explained that the remote wasn’t working. He tested the remote using a special device and said that, in fact, the remote WAS working. I said it is great that my remote can make your device beep, but it can’t open my car doors. Then he said, well, little lady, that is because you don’t know how to use your remote…

He brought me outside and taught me the skills I needed, the pointing backwards, the walk all the way to the car and the location of the sensor in the dashboard so I could direct the signal properly. I was obviously ignorant of such advanced technology and he was condescending, having to help the little lady with such a simple task. His explanation seemed practiced, like he has had to help many little ladies with this same problem.

Which is why the Subaru remote doesn’t deserve to be called a remote and if the condescending man has to help many little ladies learn how to use their dashboard keys, then I don’t think the problem is with the ladies.

So, my Subaru Drive magazine came in the mail. I think it is funny that there is a whole magazine about the car you own, but I had a few minutes so I was flipping through it and found a customer feedback number. Well, sure, I have some feedback. I called and explained about my dashboard key and how I think Subarus should consider a remote instead. He said I was right about the dashboard sensor and the pointing backwards thing and he would send my suggestion to engineering. Technology is so funny, that I can find the exit number for the next Starbucks from my husband’s iPhone on a road trip in the middle of now where, but I have trouble opening my car doors. Hmmmm….

That was a long introduction to the real story, which is that I found an interesting article in Subaru’s Drive magazine about the book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” (Richard Louv). Louv’s idea is that in a very short time, our relationship with nature has changed radically. Remember reading Tom Sawyer? How he used to explore all of the outdoors and travel down rivers on rafts he just built? A parent could get called in by Child Protective Services for letting a child do all of that today. And it isn’t even the wild adventures we are missing out on, it is just every day outdoor play. It has been replaced by TV, video games and the computer. And while we understand more about eco systems and global warming, our kids know less about the wonder and joy of direct experiences with nature.

The article talked about a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found that the average American child gets 44 hours per week of screen time (TV, video games and the computer). And my own personal study conducted in my house found not so much screen time, but a definite lack of green time (outdoors). We think we go camping twice a year, but we have actually only gone once. We landscaped our front yard, so our house would look nice for neighbors and passers by, but we never got to the back, because a month will pass without us even stepping outside into our own yard.

Every article in Subaru’s Drive magazine has to have an insert about a real person involved with the issue that owns a Subaru. The Subaru is crucial to his success, usually because of the all-wheel-drive. The inset for this article is about Robert Kesten, who has started a non-profit called The Center for Screen Time Awareness to encourage people to take control of their screen media and make choices for a healthier life. The web site has ideas for non-electronic activities and sponsors a week in April each year when families turn off all their screens.

The article also referenced the National Wildlife Federation’s GreenHour.org, which provides tools and information for helping get the kids outside. This site included a link to NatureFind, which has a tool that lets you enter your zip code and told you all the cool outdoor places near you.

I had second thoughts about this post. I don’t want to be that kind of parenting blog. The one that lists a whole bunch of SHOULDS that are hard to practice all at one time. And there is pressure on my family too, to spend too much time in self-improvement and loose the ability to just have fun watching a movie.

Well, I’ll post and put it out there and if it is helpful, then that is cool. My family will still be inside this weekend watching tevod American Idol.