Yes but it is all too easy for parents to sit their kids in front of the tv with a playstation/DS/laptop etc. When I was a kid, I didn't need to be told to go out, we were out all the time, even if it was in the back garden making a 'den' or suchlike.
I share your love of the sea and the beach, going on hols to Shanklin every year instilled this in me.