Blogger: Rachael Murray, Communications Officer
With Halloween around the corner, scary stuff is pretty de rigueur, but when the fear inducing fodder relates to our children’s connection with nature, we at the RSPB get unseasonably jittery.
Recent news stories on the subject have highlighted that our future generation are on average spending four and a half hours a day surfing the internet or watching TV and time playing outside during the week and at weekends has halved in one generation. And if that’s not enough, it’s also been found that fewer than 1 in 10 children regularly play in wild spaces, versus about half a generation ago.
I told you it was frightening stuff!
Which is why I am delighted that the RSPB has joined with over 370 partners including the National Trust and Play England to launch the UK’s biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature this week.
Our mission is to encourage the nation’s parents to swap some of their kids’ screen time for wild time.
Swapping thirty minutes of screen time for an extra half an hour of wild time every day would decrease children’s time in front of screens by ten per cent. This could help increase levels of physical activity, alertness and ultimately improve their well-being.
This new campaign is being launched on the back of an important and compelling new documentary film, ‘Project Wild Thing’, which is being shown at over fifty cinemas across the UK from the 25 October.
Three years in the making, ‘Project Wild Thing’ takes a funny and moving look at one of the most complex issues of the age – the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.
In a bid to get his daughter and son off the sofa and outdoors, filmmaker and father David Bond appoints himself as the Marketing Director for Nature. He wants his brand – nature – to stand out from the crowd of brands competing for their attention.
David works with branding and outdoor experts to develop and launch a campaign to get children outdoors and into nature - the ultimate, free, wonder-product.
Filmmaker and star of ‘Project Wild Thing’, David Bond, said: “Project Wild Thing’ isn’t some misty eyed nostalgia for the past; we need to make more space for wild time in children’s daily routine, freeing this generation of kids to have the sort of experiences that many of us took for granted.
“It’s all about finding wildness on your doorstep and discovering the sights, sounds and smells of nature, whether in a back garden, local park or green space at the end of the road.
“Spending time outdoors is hugely beneficial to children and young people. Research clearly shows that it improves their health, reduces stress and boosts wellbeing.”
We’ll be working with our partners to encourage the Government to tackle the growing disconnect between young people and nature in the run up to the 2015 election.
Why don’t you keep the discussion about swapping screen time for wild time going by sharing your thoughts on twitter via the feed @wearewildthing and using the hashtag #wildtime.
We’d love to hear about your favourite ways to get a bit of wild time!
If you’d like to catch a screening of ‘Project Wild Thing’, check out www.projectwildthing.com.
And if you fancy getting a bit of wild time in during the half term holidays, we’ve got family activities going on across our reserves in the Eastern Region, why not pencil one in?