Earth Day celebrations are great, but what our kids really need is exposure to the Earth all year long, says Janet Peterson, a health and human performance professor at Linfield College.
“We have an innate need to be associated with nature,” says Peterson, who takes her students on backpack trips in the Oregon wilderness.
In a national news release, Peterson says a lot of children don’t like competitive sports, and nature provides a place where they can be active without being competitive.
“Getting kids out into nature provides therapy, exercise and spiritual centering,” Peterson says.
Linfield College, with campuses in McMinnville and Portland, is located between the Cascade Mountain range and Pacific Ocean beaches, and students experience outdoor adventures all year long, including hiking, skiing, snowboarding, surfing and backpacking.
