Boycott this cold weather that has usurped valuable time that could be spent outdoors.

As a personal rule, I refuse to wear a jacket past March 1. That’s right, Mother Nature, catch up to me.

This spring, I will be outdoors and active, and plan to motivate others to do likewise. It is probably appropriate that my desire is to eventually teach P.E., but lately, it is the dearth of kids in sports and overall inactivity that has me troubled.

Back in grade school, I was the ringleader who was responsible for making the calls, ringing the doorbells and giving transportation via pegs for most athletic activities.

Back then, there weren’t enough hours in the day to have fun, and for me, in the twilight of my 20s, I still find myself fighting the daylight.

The more I jog around town, hit whiffle golf balls in my back yard or walk to and from the Campus Recreation Center, the more I notice a town devoid of kids playing outside.

Giant kudos goes out to my parents and friends growing up; it was always better to be out and about than on the couch. Even in the middle of winter, it was bundling up and playing football, building snow forts or tracking down the girls and having snowball fights.

Proof of inactivity has been observed scientifically through various health and obesity studies. And on the global stage, witness the influx of dominant foreign-born athletes on nearly every professional sports tour to verify that the American athlete is becoming an endangered species.

The PGA has Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but I dare you to name another American-born golfer.

Name an American tennis player on the PTA?

The steady improvement of foreign players in the NBA or MLB has coincided with the video game generation of which I am thankful to have avoided.

This Christmas, stores were inundated by mad dashes for a PlayStation 3, the frenzied hunt for the electronic device that can only be controlled from the temperate conditions of an indoor couch. That mad obsession pretty much sums up our electronic culture.

I’d rather dart to the first open racquetball court, call next on the hardwood or try to find peace with my golf swing on a sunny day.

If what the Buddhist priest Thich Nhat Hana said is true, that “our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth,” then I am afraid of the entire flocks of kids experiencing life through the screens of their computer, the plastic controller in their hands and the maze of electrons provided by a TV screen.

We shouldn’t be androids, plugged into computers or TVs day and night. At 40 degrees, I see people freezing, jacking up the heat so indoor quarters are like a sauna. At 40 degrees, I think it’s only a matter of time before I’m on the golf course; give me a hoody and I’m good to go.

Others should get to enjoy life that way, through activity.

So this spring and summer, motivate someone to go for a walk, to play in a pick-up game, to get some sandlot baseball in, especially if it is a youngster in your life.

As for me, I won’t be waiting for the spring chill to subside. I’ve got a wicked hitch to work out of my golf swing.