New Year’s Resolution from National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar
December 30, 2008 · Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON – Out with the old, in with the new—let’s get rid of those tired old New Year’s resolutions and do something different—pledge to take a kid to visit a national park! As Director of the National Park Service, I have spoken across the country of our children being “seduced by the dark side of video games.” That may sound harsh—but it reflects the grim reality that too many kids spend too much time in front of the television, and too little time in healthy outdoor recreation Across the country, teachers bemoan a lack of knowledge about our nation’s history. As I often point out in my speeches. “More people know Homer Simpson’s hometown than Abraham Lincoln’s.” (Yes, they are both from the town of Springfield.) As we become an increasingly sedentary society, it is important to set aside time to get up and get moving. A walk through a national park with your child promotes family bonding, a healthy lifestyle, and countless opportunities for discovery. National parks are the real deal—and places where kids can be hands on. Lat year, we enrolled 565,000 new Junior Rangers after they completed activities at a national park. Just about every national park offers this free program that guides children through site-specific activities. We engaged kids and their families with “bioblitzes,” a quick inventory of all living things in an area. Throughout the country, kids can borrow “discovery backpacks,” visit “exploration stations,” attend... [Read the full story]
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