Help get kids off MySpace and into the open space

By Diane Denish

The 2008 legislative session found its legs in its second week. Health reform plans began moving through committee. Several ethics bills were introduced, including creation of an ethics commission, a limit on campaign contributions and disclosure of lobbyist salaries. A budget is expected from the House as soon as Monday.

Committees started early in the morning, working through the hundreds of bills introduced thus far. (It’s sure to grow – legislators have until Jan. 30 to bring legislation.) After each day’s floor session, the committees gathered again, sometimes meeting into the night and the weekend.

One of my favorite aspects of every session is how the Roundhouse becomes a place of public gathering. Senior citizens, businesspeople, chambers of commerce and other groups all pick a day or two that they can come to Santa Fe and talk with us about issues important to them. And every day, a host of young people helps us bring down our age demographic.

School groups come to watch, meet their legislators and serve as pages during floor sessions. On Tuesday, we held Pre-Kindergarten Advocacy Day and had dozens of 4- and 5-year-olds to delight us.

Seeing these young people every day got me thinking about some of my favorite childhood memories. We had a park near our house in Hobbs where my friends and I played almost every day. Tetherball was a daily activity in warm weather. I spent many summers in Ruidoso, where our house had no TV, no radio and no telephone. So we played along the river and took hikes.

Back then, if you asked schoolchildren what their favorite subject was, most of them would likely answer “recess.”

I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.

Leave No New Mexican Child Inside

One of the legislative efforts that has sparked discussion in the capitol aims to restore some of that old-time, get-out-and-play spirit. They call it “Leave No New Mexican Child Inside.”

It started last year with a $250,000 appropriation to our State Parks and Public Education departments to develop outdoor education programs. Why? Because statistics show our children spend too much time watching TV and playing video games. It’s affecting their health and their grades.

A recent national study of 4,500 students found a link between television, movie and video-game exposure and poor school performance. Not only is it tough to get their attention, but it’s even tougher to connect them to important subjects like math and science without a hands-on experience with trees or rivers.

By one estimate, the average U.S. student spends more time watching TV than going to school.

In a 2005 survey of New Mexico high schoolers, 39 percent said they didn’t get the recommended levels of either moderate or vigorous exercise. The New Mexico Department of Health says nearly a quarter of our children are overweight.

Overweight children tend to become overweight adults, and treating the consequences of obesity costs taxpayers $324 million a year.

Supporters of the “Leave No Child Inside Act” want to put more money into outdoor education programs, like the Cimarron students who monitor the watershed at Cimarron and Eagle Nest state parks, learning about eagles and beavers. Raton fourth-graders study birds and trees at Sugarite State Park. Las Cruces and Roswell teachers are developing lesson plans to use the Rio Grande Bosque and Bottomless Lakes State Park as teaching tools.

These experiences connect children with nature and turn math and science concepts into something concrete.

Help find a solution

As the proposal stands, money for more programs would come from a tax on TVs, video games and video equipment. I don’t support a tax increase, but believe the bill opens up a robust discussion on how the state can find the money to get children outside and moving.

In a state as majestic as New Mexico, it’s sad to see children choosing video games over basketball games and checking out MySpace instead of hiking the open space.

Between TV, fast food, fewer gym classes and working parents too busy to camp out with their kids, we’ve created a generation facing dire health problems.

We have 34 state parks – not to mention national forests, wildlife refuges, nature centers and ranches. That’s a lot of outdoor classrooms and a wealth of opportunities to help children fall in love with nature.

Keep your eye on this effort. Better yet, get active and help work out the solution.

Denish is the state’s lieutenant governor. She will be writing a weekly column throughout the 30-day legislative session that is underway. You can reach her office at (505) 476-2250.