Not too long ago, a family was out on a nature hike when the teen son walked off a cliff (to his death) while texting.
That death was totally unnecessary. I bet they had wished someone had taken the phone away from him
The greens have outlawed most forms of recreation in ‘nature’ , (Depending on the area, mountain bikes/OHVs/Hunting/Fishing/Boating) and city kids thrown into a country environment are pretty clueless as to how to have that kind of fun anyway. Not that they are stupid, but when you grow up without the woods around you, you can’t reasonably know what to do in it once you get there.
Same for a country kid in the big city.
But my point is that today, Kids are force fed the idea that ‘Gaia’ is something to be worshiped and ‘protected’, not played in. What happens when the average Animal Planet fan gets to all the places they saw on TV? The first thing they see is a sign telling them all the ‘forbidden’ things there.
The place I grew up (Adirondack Park NY) is now one big nature preserve that tops the list. Pretty much everything I grew up doing is now forbidden or is in the process of becoming so.
I totally understand why kids don’t bother and escape to a virtual world. There is still some freedom for them in it.