Summer Showdown: Outdoors Not For Every Kid

Dear Friends,

My mother and I were talking the other day about how kids are now and oppose to how I was as a kid. Actually, I was referring to how I was with respect to how I was not an outdoor person. Most kids now are either ten times worse that I was or would never use something as simple as a yo-yo or a kite. My mother is old school and use to having kids go outside. I was brought up into the technological world. Being outside is something I don’t do unless I have to. I admit that I am a homebody at times but most of the time, I am out doing something inside somewhere else. I am going to explain why I don’t do outside and also why I think parents need to not encourage kids to play outside as much.

My reasoning for not being an outdoor person is simple. I lived in Detroit, MI for most of my life. I would not want to be a kid in this world because you can catch a bullet while playing and you can get in more trouble outside than inside. I have never liked being outside because I tend to want to be somewhere with walls. Most of the places I have lived in Metro Detroit are not for kids. I don’t do bugs. I hate being hot. I hate sweating. I might work outside but I don’t have to be outside all day. I don’t like to be darker than I am now.

My mother had a good point about what if I was in the country. I have lived in Monroe for two years. I have been on the farm and I have done farm work. I am not a farmer at heart. I don’t like smelling shit or being in mud and dirt. I don’t have an issue for those people that are country at heart, I am not. I am an indoor person. Too many things outside can hurt and harm a person. Especially when you had sinus issues like I did for years. I lost my sinus issues when I moved to Flint and kept them away even when I moved back to Detroit and later in Monroe.

Being outside is not a good thing for some kids. Like I said, I had allergies and sinus issues for years. Why would you send a kid outside if they cannot breathe or see? I still say some parents would send kids outside because they don’t want to see them inside. My mother use to say, it is a nice day but I would see that I don’t have a lot of time before my sinuses close up and I can’t breathe. Some kids had asthma or worse. Parents love to send a child out in the world but don’t think if they might die outside from lack of oxygen.

I am not trying to start anything but from my personal experiences; I don’t think some parents think about their kids. I am also using my experience to show that it is okay to be inside. Some kids are not made for being outdoor kids. Some kids are comfortable being indoors. Just keep all that in mind.

Eugene Chandler III