Youth activity: the virtual occupies real time

Here are some data from "Is active play on the way to extinction?"

• 46% of Canadian children enjoy 3 or fewer hours of active play per week (including weekends)
• 63% of Canadian children's free time after school and on weekends is spent in sedentary activities.
• Rather than playing outside, Canadian children in grades 6-12 spend 7 hours and 48 minutes per day in front of screens (recommended: 2 hours max per day).
• The proportion of Canadian children playing outside after school has declined by 14% over the past decade.
• Only 7% of children and youth get 60 minutes or more of physical activity per day
• Only 35% of children ages 10-16 use active transportation for the majority of their trips to and from school (33% walk, 2% bike)

And the situation is not much better everywhere the population is well connected...

Among the recommendations to combat youth sedentary behavior, there is a call for a change in mindset, especially around play and living spaces. Fear of accidents and crime means that few parents dare leave their children unsupervised anywhere, not even to walk to school or to the park. So they make the choice to "keep them busy."

Watched, all the time except....

...on the Internet! The Internet is the modern freedom space. Even if there is always a way to find out who did what, no one will take the time to monitor their loved ones for very long, and even if someone did we will have a thousand and one ways to deceive or escape their vigilance.

Young people usually don't invite their parents as friends on their Facebook page or they drastically limit their access to it. The Internet is their space of freedom, as was the wasteland and undeveloped spaces of childhood just 40 years ago. Today, thanks to the cell phone with which children and teenagers are equipped as soon as possible, real surveillance is continuous: there is no longer any space for freedom; even play areas are regulated, both in terms of time and space.... whereas the Internet offers the possibility of creating one's own spaces...

Of course, unsupervised physical activity takes a hit.

And yet...

"92% of Canadian children said they would choose to play with friends rather than watch TV."

But they don't for a variety of reasons: distance, each other's scheduled activities that leave only vague times that are impossible to synchronize with friends; video games and the Internet are ultimately more satisfying and easily accessible. Despite the many qualities of active games (improved motor skills, creativity, decision-making, problem-solving, self-control, etc.), the fun is not in the cards.Despite the many qualities of active play (improved motor function, creativity, decision making, problem solving, self-control, etc.), there is no fun to be had without the essential freedom and carefree space of playing tag, without having to worry about referee decisions or scoring, not breaking flower beds, the risk of collision with motorized machinery, or encountering psychopaths or drug addicts who gravitate to the playground and leave their needles behind, as the media love to remind us. Pffuitt the carefree!

That in the medium term the sedentary lifestyle affects the health as much physical as moral does not make the weight as for the immediate satisfaction and easy access that bring the virtual activities, in addition to the space of freedom and the absence of "concrete" risk. Everyone is happy.

School? It's the best place!"

On the report card for assessing the situation, school has the highest scores. It's still the place where kids do the most physical activity, even better if kids walk there. But what more can she do?

It could give itself a more "muscular" activity policy, encourage active travel, free play, value activity more than the virtual and these kinds of strategies but also grant authentic spaces of freedom, with confidence in the self-control of children and youth.

What is certain is that an irreversible social change is being accomplished and that new responses must be developed.

Download: Is Active Play on the Way to Extinction? 2012 .pdf - 972k