An Apolitical Way to Fight For America in 2017? Get Out And Play!

A free, easy way to be a better American

No matter which way you lean ideologically and politically, American ideals and values are under threat, some already destroyed. I don’t need to remind you of what policies have been initiated, and my hope is that this piece attracts people who would normally close it if I were to include anti-Right triggers. When (some) Conservatives and Liberals are in agreement, as many now are when it comes to the current state of, well, the State, you know something uniquely perilous is happening in government.

But we the people are not the government and there are ways to let American values thrive despite the increasingly difficult political paradigm. One of the easiest? Enjoying the outdoors. Being public people.

As a teacher, I notice my 5th and 6th grade students are fixed in their views as they are glued to their screens. Under helicopter parenting, it is even harder to wrench them from such fixation. When they arrive in my class towards the end of the day, they just want to be zombies in front of a phone or TV and have no interest in any new ideas. When I request phones be put away they become like Gollum of Lord of the Rings fame, like pained addicts on day one of going cold turkey. It’s troubling.