The Developing Fear of Nature

The Developing Fear of Nature

Ever watch the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week on TV?  How about Animal Planet’s Nature’s Deadliest or  Rattlesnake Republic?  Do these shows instill a love of nature and a desire to get outdoors?  Quite the opposite.  Imagine what they are doing to your kids!  While these shows sort of reflect reality – in that the animal actors are just doing their thing, often with encouragement from the producers – the truth of the situation is quite different.

A better dose of reality:

• The chances of dying from a snakebite in the U.S. is nearly zero and fewer than one in 37,500 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the U.S. each year. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation – University of Florida
• In the U.S. your chances of getting killed by a lightening strike are 30 times greater than dying of a shark attack.  Fact Monster
• Deaths from black widow spider bites are virtually non-existent and, despite occasional news reports, there are no brown recluse spiders living in California.   In areas where brown recluse spiders do live,  bites are rare.   University of California Riverside – Spider Research
• Alligators seldom bite people, and fatalities from such occurrences are extremely rare. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

I could go on, but the point is that the horrors displayed on television, in an attempt to draw viewers, are hugely overblown and a detriment to the health of everyone that watches them and then fears going outdoors.  Try turning off the television and going for a walk – take your kids along.

Register for the Discover Club (free) and elect to get these blog posts by email.