New Survey Says a Good Chunk of Today’s Kids Spend Less Time Outdoors Than Prison Inmates

When I was a kid you couldn't keep me inside.

According to a recent survey, kids today actually spend less time in the great outdoors than those who are incarcerated. This blows my mind. I guess I am fortunate enough to been born in the tail end of a generation who had to be bribed to come back in the house. I loved playing outside, riding my bike, playing catch with my brothers. We were covered in dirt, grass, bruises and a few splatters of blood when we cam in at the end of the day.

In the summer we came in covered in mosquito bites.

This survey, reported by ABC 7 in Buffalo, was conducted in the U.K. and was funded by Persil, a laundry detergent brand. The results showed that one in three children in the U.K. spend less time outside than the inmates in a maximum security prison.

If you think the results would be different in the U.S., I would seriously think again.

I'm willing to bet that the kids in America don't spend much more time outdoors than those in Europe. 12,000 parents in 10 different countries were interviewed in the survey. Their children were between the ages of five and 12. One third said that their children only play outside for 30 minutes or less on average. One in five didn't go outside at all.

Even the inmates were surprised to hear this news.