American Kids too Weak to Stay in Desks

Timothy Birdnow

Here's one that should open a few eyes; American school children are becoming so feeble they are actually falling out of their desks during class.

You read that correctly. 

From the article:

Suddenly, a crash. The kids immediately crane to see what caused the commotion. There, lying confused on the ground, is a child who inexplicably fell out of their chair. They sheepishly climb back into their seat, and the lesson resumes. A couple hours later, it happens again—albeit with a different child. Then again. Then again.

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's the reality in many modern classrooms. Children accidentally falling from their seats is now a daily occurrence.

I know; it may be the kids are doing it for attention, or to break the monotony. We used to do stuff like that when I was a lad; kids would start barking like a dog or whatnot just to stay awake. But I don't recall anyone falling out of their desks. But then again, we never ate Tide Pods or did vodka enemas. Of course there were always the kids who got into the tubs of commercial glue...

The article continues:

Our vestibular system is stimulated and developed by moving through space in a variety of directions—particularly at high speeds. Thirty or 40 years ago, kids were getting all the stimulation they needed by participating in several hours of daily unstructured outdoor play. Not anymore. According to the Child Mind Institute, the average American kid now spends an average of just 4-7 minutes per day on unstructured outdoor play. Hanscom recommends, at minimum, threehoursper day.Meanwhile, the average American kid spends about nine hours a day sitting down—whether that be at their desk or plopped down on their couch at home.

"They're not moving in all different directions," Hanscom says. "We're actually supposed to be moving in rapid directions on a regular basis. Kids should be rolling down hills, going upside down." Kids are naturally driven to move in all sorts of ways during unstructured outdoor play. They climb things, they chase one another, they jump from high places, they spin until they get dizzy. That wide array of movement helps develop a well-functioning vestibular system, along with countless other important physical and mental skills. Now that unstructured outdoor play has become an afterthought in the lives of children, that natural development has gone missing.

In other words, our kids are fat and uncoordinated. They don't get enough exercise.

And definitely not enough play. Time was we couldn't wait to get outside to play. The worst thing ever was when it rained and recess was canceled; we'd have "indoor play" which was agony for us kids back then. But now kids want to stay in and play on their electronic gods.

Heliocopter parents and overzealous teachers make the kids play time so uninteresting they would rather have a virtual recess.

And here is something I've long noticed; playground equipment has become ridiculously unchallenging and unrewarding. You never see swings, for instance in new playgrounds (except little ones for little kids) and the old fun stuff - teeter totters, monkey bars, merry-go-rounds, are just gone. Why? I suspect they are considered legal liabilities. You can get hurt. I remember as a boy kids did get hurt, falling off the monkey bars or dropping too hard from the teeter totter or whatnot.

This article addresses that too:

Modern playgrounds and overprotective adults don't help matters, either. In the early-to-mid 20th century, playgrounds featured towering slides, challenging climbs and fast-spinning steel merry-go-rounds. That all changed in the mid-1980s, as schools and local governments became increasingly fearful that litigious parents could have them fired or sued should a child suffer injury on their playground. Thus playgrounds began getting more and more watered down. Today, most American playgrounds are too short, too slow and too easy. Thus, fewer opportunities for diverse, challenging and vigorous movement.

"A lot of kids from an early age will master the playground equipment really quickly. My son, who is 3, can do the playground. My older girls, who are 11 and 14, they mastered it at 5 or 6. So it doesn't offer that challenge it was originally designed to be. It's just basic physics that if you shorten swings, you shorten slides, you're going to get less sensory input. The merry-go-round is a really powerful vestibular input (that's gone away)," Hanscom says. In addition to the neutered equipment now available to kids; teachers, parents and school officials have also become overzealous in their rule-making.

"Ironically, we tend to tell kids, 'Don't spin, you're going to get dizzy.' Or, 'Get down from that rock, you're gonna get hurt.' But as therapists, we purposefully have swings in our clinics and will spin (kids) in all different directions so that they have a really good sense of body awareness," Hanscom says.

"(Schools) are taking swings away, or if they have swings, the kids have to stay upright now. They're not allowed to go on their bellies, they're not allowed to spin on their swings anymore…We've created unrealistic rules and restricted their movement. They can't sit on the monkey bars. They can't go upside down. And in therapy, we literally try to get them in an inverted position so they have better body awareness. We're going against each other."

And what is the end result?


If you wanted to conquer a people this would be the way to do it; make them weak and cowering.

Do we believe this generation will be able to stand up to the Iranians or Chinese if a war should break out? They can't even stand up!

Chatham island is an island in the South Pacific that was inhabited by Polynesian peoples. It was as close to paradise as you will get, and the aboriginal inhabitants got fat and lazy, living off the immesurable bounty of the land. When Europeans came they brought some Moari from New Zealand with them. The Moari scouts reported back to their own people how weak and lazy the Chatham people were, and the Moari planned an invasion. It succeeded, and the Chatham Moriary were wiped out by the more industrious invaders. Please note it was not the Europeans who did the wiping, but the New Zealand Moari. They were able to do this because their enemy was so weak and helpless after decades of peace and plenty.

If American kids can't stay balanced in their desks, what chance have we of stopping an enemy?

Our decadence makes late Romans look hearty by comparison.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:32 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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