Officials hope call of wild inspires youth

The Blue Hills Reservation will be the site of the kick-off event in a "No Child Left Inside" campaign being announced today by state recreation officials.

The May 19 event at the Blue Hills will be the first stop in a "Great Park Pursuit " that will entice families to six state parks over the next several weeks for outdoor events such as hiking, fishing, setting up a tent, and making a campfire.

The initiative -- whose website, greatparkpursuit.org, goes online today -- is state recreation officials' response to an epidemic of childhood hours lost to indoor entertainment.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation wants children to "disconnect from cyberspace and reconnect with open space," said Priscilla Geigis, acting commissioner, in an interview this week.

Recreation commissions around the country are awakening to the need to draw children away from electronics and to the outdoors, said Geigis, who pointed to the influence of Richard Louv's much-discussed book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder."

Louv's book argues that contact with nature provides opportunities for inner growth, healing, and solitude that children are missing out on. Building a fort, watching a bird build a nest, or hunting for frogs or fish in a stream is a natural cure for hyperactivity and a journey into the self, outdoors advocates say.

The DCR's Great Park Pursuit is modeled on a similar program initiated by the state of Connecticut last summer, which proved "a huge success," said DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox.

The initiative asks participants to create "family teams" consisting of at least one adult and one child, but as many of either category as the teams desire. Teams that register before the program's May 19 start and participate in all six pursuits gain points that accumulate toward prizes.

Some of the top prizes include equipment from Eastern Mountain Sports such as a tent, kayak, and mountain bike packages.

Family groups can also choose to participate in a single pursuit or any number of the six they want. Family groups are "very loosely defined," said Fox. A team could consist of a Scout leader and 10 Boy or Girl Scouts, or one child and a couple of grandparents.

Each event will be centered on different activities. The Great Park Pursuit in the Blue Hills Reservation will include map reading, trail etiquette, and learning how to set up a backyard weather station. The day will also include meeting the critters at Blue Hills' Trailside Museum and "getting your hands dirty with the organic farmers" at the park's Brookwood Community Farm, Geigis said. The farmers will offer some "great ways to eat healthy."

Upcoming park sites and events remain a secret. Taking advantage of the younger generations' computer literacy, the program's website will offer hints about the following week's activities to keep children guessing until the next Saturday's site is revealed by midweek.

The Great Park Pursuit is one part of No Child Left Inside.

"It's really important to get the kids outside," Geigis said. "Our kids are computer savvy. Their childhood is a little bit different from our childhood."

But the sedentary lifestyle -- less open space and fewer hours spent outdoors, combined with more electronic amusement indoors -- leads to health issues such as obesity and attention deficit disorder and less familiarity with natural resources. No Child Left Inside seeks to foster an environmental engagement by "the future stewards" of the environment, Geigis said.

Upcoming initiatives will include programs titled "Babes in the Woods " and "Hikes for Tykes."

The efforts also seeks to acquaint children and adults with the full range of the state park system, including Moore State Park in Paxton, where rhododendrons and azaleas flower in the spring.

Participation in Great Park Pursuit is free and parking will be free on program dates.

Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.