The Indoor Epidemic: How Parents, Teachers, and Kids Can Start an Outdoor Revolution

174 Pages·2017·0.757 MB·English

by  Erik Shonstrom

The Indoor Epidemic

Praise for The Indoor Epidemic
In The Indoor Epidemic, Erik Shonstrom has reminded us of a basic truth
that every traveler knows: learning occurs through experience, and the best
experiences are those that happen when we venture out into the wide world.”
—Rolf Potts, travel writer; author of Vagabonding
and Marco Polo Didn’t Go There
“In an era of standards-based education within a technology-obsessed cul-
ture, Shonstrom reminds us of the educational value that lies just beyond our
classroom cages, in our own backyards and beyond. This rich research-based
text will inspire any thoughtful educator or parent to empower young people
to move and engage with the natural world around them.”
—Donna Terrell, educator, Hillsborough
County, Florida
“Inactivity is killing Americans. Humans weren’t designed to sit at desks
all day, and most of us started sitting at a desk in kindergarten. Shonstrom
tackles not only the health consequences of our ‘indoor epidemic,’ but also
its effects on our intellectual ability and spiritual well-being. He uses science,
literature, and personal experience to argue that it all begins with an institu-
tionalized educational system in need of change. I didn’t agree with every
opinion in the book, but The Indoor Epidemic definitely challenged my ideas
of traditional education and made me rethink my beliefs.”
—Paul W. Slavik, MD; hospitalist, internal medicine; assistant
professor, University of Vermont College of Medicine

The Indoor Epidemic
How Parents, Teachers, and Kids
Can Start an Outdoor Revolution
Erik Shonstrom
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26–34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB
Copyright © 2017 by Erik Shonstrom
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
ISBN: 978-1-4758-2590-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN: 978-1-4758-2592-3 (electronic)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated
with love and gratitude
to my kids, Vivien and Finn—
there’s no mountain
I wouldn’t climb for you.

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1 The Curse of the Corner Office 1
2 Paleoeducation 15
3 Feral Psychology 31
4 The Outdoor Body 49
5 Reading the Wild 63
6 Outside the Inbox 77
7 Humanimal 97
8 Are You Experienced? 105
9 The Right to Outdoor Play 117
10 Enkidu’s Lament 127
Conclusion: The Outdoor Nation Proclamation 147
Works Cited 149
About the Author 157
ix