Introduce teens to wonders of nature
Every morning at 5:30, I begin a brisk 4-mile walk while looking at stars, listening to the last hoots of great horned owls, the chirps of green tree frogs and the autumn songs of birds at the first light of day.
I might skip the walk on weekends to go bird-watching. But my day still begins with nature — owls, songbirds, toads, frogs, moths and the inestimable beauty of sunrise.
On weekdays, I see teenagers standing at intersections, eyes glued to cellphones while waiting for the school bus. Maybe they’re texting, snapchatting, playing games or listening to music — I wouldn’t know. I do know what they’re missing:
A spooky black witch moth as big as a bat swoops around the nearby streetlamp. An eastern screech owl bolts like a missile from the predawn darkness to grab the moth for breakfast before roosting for the day. Perhaps he’ll head for a hole in a backyard tree at a nearby house, maybe even the teenager’s.
Do teens roost on weekends? I haven’t seen them outside in their yards. Not in nearby parks enjoying an array of fall butterflies or yakking blue jays milling around trees — like teenagers in a shopping mall.
But let’s not harangue teens. They’re like juvenile songbirds figuring out their place in the world.
Instead, let’s take them to a park where they can use cellphones to take pictures of birds, bugs, butterflies, flowers, trees or whatever captures their interest. Tell them about an app called iNaturalist, where they can post photos of critters or plants and get feedback from other people, even other teens, who’ve seen and can help identify what they saw.
Perhaps iNaturalist will introduce teens to a different kind of social networking. It might even get them hooked on nature. No need to tell them what they should learn. They’ll figure it out.
Years ago, we took both our teenage sons on camping trips. The oldest collected rocks with embedded fossils of long-gone creatures; he went on to earn a graduate degree in geology. The youngest caught onto bird-watching but pursued a career in oilfield technology. Neither son ever lost his curiosity about nature.
Get your teens outdoors. Let them explore. They’ll find something in nature that will fascinate them for a lifetime.