Connecting Children to Nature is a Worldwide Movement

I remember as a child I lived in Canberra and regularly my family went to the Cotter river for a game of cricket and a swim. We spent a lot of time in nature. Canberra is surrounded by hills and many people go camping and get outdoors. Certainly I have learned over the years that fewer children are getting outside. I recall interviewing Principals for a study I did and they informed me that children were becoming more obese and some had trouble walking. With the increasing speed of life parents don’t have much time or they send their kids off to lessons. Kids are also cotton wooled more as parents are concerned for their safety. In addition, television and computers are used as entertainment or babysitters. The increasing time spent in front of screens as predominant past-times ensure children do not move or are stationary. Therefore, children become less fit and healthy.

The movement away from the great outdoors in nature is an increasing problem across the world. It is very important that children do not lose their connection to nature. This has occured for safety reasons, however, if children lose their connection to nature they will feel more disconnected and isolated. This has implications for sustainability and learning self suffiency. If children have increasing fears and phobias about the natural world they will be afraid to go into nature and protect themselves from it. We have seen that in the design of cities.

http://www.childrenandnature.org/movement/detail/minnesota

If you go with long-term significance, my pick for the top story of not only 2009 but also of the 21st Century is the pandemic of Nature Deficit Disorder, a term so aptly coined by Richard Louv in his best-selling outdoor book, Last Child in the Woods….”

— Bill Schneider, NewWest.Net

“Concerns about long-term consequences—affecting emotional well-being, physical health, learning abilities, environmental consciousness—have spawned a national movement to ‘leave no child inside.’ In recent months, it has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grassroots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day.”

— Washington Post, June 2007

“The movement to reconnect children to the natural world has arisen quickly, spontaneously, and across the usual social, political, and economic dividing lines.”

— Orion magazine, March/April 2007

Refer full article: http://www.childrenandnature.org/downloads/CNNMovement2009.pdf

Children and Nature 2009

A REPORT ON THE MOVEMENT TO RECONNECT CHILDREN TO THE NATURAL WORLD

“Nature-deficit disorder is not an official diagnosis but a way of viewing the problem, and describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities.”

— Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

INTRODUCTION

This updated report on the movement to reconnect children and nature has been developed to serve as a tool for those who care deeply about the importance of reconnecting children with nature.

The document begins with a “Brief History of the Movement,” demonstrating how much momentum has been achieved and continues to grow—particularly since 2005, with the publication of and response to Richard Louv’s seventh book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

“The Importance of Children in Nature” makes the case for the many positive benefits to children from frequent experiences in the outdoors as a part of children’s everyday lives—fostering healthy, happy, smart, and well-adjusted children. Indicators of the deficit—and the need for building a movement to reconnect children and nature—are also provided.

“The Movement: Now and in the Future” addresses the direction of the movement, and the barriers to it, including the fear of stranger-danger and other exaggerated risks.

“Building New Initiatives through More Effective Communications” addresses the motivating interests and dominating values of many parents, including the concepts that will likely be most effective in reaching them in order to encourage them to the doors for their children to play in the outdoors.

“Ideas for the Future” and “A Coming International Movement” are both precursors to changes on the horizon—with inspiration, vision, and a call to action.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHILDREN AND NATURE MOVEMENT

On April 24, 2006, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, published in 2005 and updated in 2008, called for a nationwide campaign to “Leave No Child Inside” and a movement to reconnect children and nature. The event, moderated by Children & Nature Network (C&NN) President and CEO Cheryl Charles, and sponsored by the Paul F. Brandwein Institute, had assembled more than 100 conservation, education and government organizations with a continuing commitment to reducing the nature deficit.

Today, more than three years after the Press Club event, public awareness is at an all-time high, and the issue continues to attract an increasing amount of media attention. Family nature clubs or their equivalent have sprung up across the country, from the Desert Rangers in Arizona, to the Happy Trails Family Nature Club in the Twin Cities area, to the Boca Raton Parents Group in Florida. In April 2009, hundreds of young people—from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico—came together to celebrate the official launch of the Children & Nature Network’s Natural Leaders Network™, a campaign to develop young leadership in the children and nature movement. These Natural Leaders participated in varied events during what has been designated Children and Nature Awareness Month—from a community garden project in New York to a beach clean up in Los Angeles. Some of these youth attended the Natural Leaders Network Summit at the Headlands Institute in June Although Last Child in the Woods continues to be an effective catalyst and rallying cry, Richard Louv would be the first to say the message of his book is one that many, many people have worried about and worked to address for decades. Now, many outside the movement are listening, and inspired to join and take action.

Clearly, when, in November 2006, USA Today reported in a front-page story: “A back-to nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is burgeoning nationwide,” it was on the mark. By June 2007, the movement had been reported in the pages of The Economist, and other European-based publications, and had reached the front page of the Washington Post more than once—most recently in August 2009. By the end of 2007, USA Weekly had published a cover story feature for its weekend supplement, reaching 47.5 million readers through 600 newspapers. More recently, on CBS’ The Early Show, a matter-of-fact acknowledgment of nature-deficit disorder, defining it as a term “popularized by Richard Louv,” led to a listing of the best towns in the West for families to enjoy nature experiences. Nature-deficit disorder continues to be a topic of public conversation in diverse media. To cite two recent examples: New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof referred to Last Child in the Woods as he wrote about backpacking in the mountains with his children—his prescription for combating nature-deficit disorder (Aug.1, 2009): “Let’s acknowledge that getting kids awed by nature is as important as getting them reading,” said the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. This and a follow-up column inspired hundreds of comments from readers. In a similar vein, novelist Michael Chabon’s (July 12, 2009) essay in the New York Review of Books is a paean to what he recalls as the “Wilderness of Childhood,” which is now a memory, for the most part.

“…the primary reason for this curtailing of adventure, this closing off of Wilderness, is the increased anxiety we all feel over the abduction of children by strangers; we fear the wolves in the Wilderness,” Chabon writes, echoing a major theme in Last Child in the Woods. “What is the impact of the closing down of the Wilderness on the development of children’s imaginations?” He wonders: “This is what I worry about the most.”

Thinking of children’s imaginations: Gary Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, recently announced that the set of Sesame Street would include nature as an important element—this after 40 years as an influential television children’s program that used a brick and asphalt setting.

The World Future Society was on target when it ranked nature-deficit disorder as the fifthmost- important trend (on a list of 10) that would shape 2007 and the years to come. Indeed, there also is a growing movement in the United Kingdom, with the National Trust organizing more than a thousand “wild Child” events to boost interest in nature, reports the Times of London (July 14, 2009). Meanwhile, Last Child in the Woods, updated for publication in Britain in the summer of 2009, has received wide media attention throughout the United Kingdom. Communications tools such as Web sites, texting, online communities of interest, blogs, electronic newsletters, and other forms of outreach and inclusion are all serving as powerful ways to nourish and support a sense of connectedness—this sense of being a part of something purposeful, inspiring, healthy, and commonsense—that is at the heart of this movement to reconnect children and nature.

To cite another example of how the trend has taken advances: In January 2009, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced $21.2 million in grants for parks throughout the state to “reduce nature-deficit disorder,” and reopened seven state parks (while restoring 12 full-time jobs in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources), in effect aligning state goals with that of Illinois’ Leave No Child Inside initiative. Chicago Wilderness, a coalition of more than 240 public and private organizations, launched that initiative in 2007. This is one of some 60 regional campaigns that have formed in the United States and Canada in the last three years. In addition, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service have instituted additional programs to directly engage children, and many conservation groups with nationwide reach have put a great deal of energy and resources into finding new ways to get children outdoors.

In March 2009, the National Recreation and Park Association, an influential organization with a large membership and long history as a strong voice for parks and recreation, issued a white paper that called upon Congress to approve $50 million for urban parks programs.

That paper expressed concern for the severing of children from nature:

“Children and Nature: Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods has spurred a growing national movement to reconnect children with nature. While children nationwide are increasingly disconnected from nature, the problem is especially acute in America’s urban centers where open space and even green grass can be hard to find in many neighborhoods.

Urban parks—from the smallest neighborhood park to the likes of Central Park— frequently provide the only opportunities for urban youth to experience, learn about, and appreciate nature.”

This summer, President Obama visited Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park with his family, learned fly-fishing, and spoke of the glories of the parks system. Also this summer, with camping in decline for a generation, the National Park Service waived entrance fees for 147 of its sites some weekends in July and August. But even before these positive moves, we are pleased to note, a number of parks had been experiencing an uptick in attendance; it is too soon to know for certain, but it appears many of these visitors included families with children. There has been speculation in some accounts that the economy played a role, or that public awareness of nature-deficit disorder was a factor. As Richard Louv observes, in a cover story in the May 2009 Parks & Recreation magazine, many families are rediscovering both the joy and cost-effectiveness of getaways in nearby nature. He also points out that Michelle Obama’s White House vegetable garden may encourage families to reconnect with nature through their own gardens. And, in hard times, Louv says, nature helps build social capital. “We need cohesive neighborhoods and supportive kinship networks more than ever.” To be sure, Nature Rocks, C&NN’s Family Nature Clubs, the Natural Leaders Network™ and grassroots organizations—all are growing and have received considerable media attention.

As well, members of the Children & Nature Network’s Speakers Bureau are addressing enthusiastic audiences around the country, and internationally. They are spreading seed. For example, Marilyn Wyzga in New Hampshire heard Cheryl Charles’ keynote on children and nature at the North American Association for Environmental Education annual conference in the fall of 2006. Wyzga, who is with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, went back to the state and said they needed to bring Charles to New Hampshire to keynote a summit on reconnecting children and nature. New Hampshire First Lady Susan Lynch, an M.D., got involved and challenged the group to find a way to reconnect children and nature, for their health and well-being. That first summit, with 100 people from all sectors and Charles giving the keynote address, was a stepping-stone to the New Hampshire Children in Nature Coalition, one of the most comprehensive statewide efforts to reconnect children and nature in the U.S. Richard Louv subsequently went to the state and further roused and built on the interest. Similarly, Charles keynoted a conference in Kansas in the fall of 2006, and that speech was a factor in building the steady momentum to create a statewide strategy to reconnect children and nature. Then-Gov.Kathleen Sebelius signed a statewide directive as one of her last acts as governor before becoming secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration.

And in Little Rock, Arkansas, City Director Dr. Dean Kumpuris was inspired by Last Child in the Woods, and by a talk by Louv, so he spearheaded a campaign to raise funds for a makeover of a major park’s playground so children could have an unstructured play
environment with green spaces designed for exploration and discovery. The final phase of construction was realized in the summer of 2008.
Education in and about the environment is available from many sources, including school coursework and clubs, community conservation groups, and park and recreation centers.

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) sponsors an annual Environmental Education Week and Public Lands Day, “thought to be the largest volunteer event getting Americans outdoors to work on cleanup, restoration, and related projects,” states Great Outdoors America The Report of the Outdoor Resources Review Group (July 2009). “In concert with many federal, state and local agencies, participation has exploded, up from 5,000 volunteers in 1997 to 120,000 in 2008. Sharp increases in participation occurred when state and local parks were added as close-to-home venues for volunteers; 600 urban sites now take part in Public Lands Day.”

ASCD, the professional educators’ association, was founded in 1943. It reports having 175,000 members in 119 countries. In May 2009, their publication Educational Leadership featured an article citing the many important research studies available for review on the Children & Nature Network Web site, with the author concluding: “When the next wave of environmental interest washes over our schools, as it inevitably will, this body of research will support the new ideas for truly fulfilling [William B.] Stapp’s dream of environmental literacy. …In response to Louv’s book, more than 1,000 nonprofits with almost 50 million members have launched a variety of efforts loosely organized under the title No Child Left Inside.”

The No Child Left Inside Coalition announced they had over 1,400 member organizations as of July 2009.

In the United Kingdom, several initiatives are setting good examples. As reported above, the National Trust organized more than a thousand “wild child” events to encourage interest in local wildlife. Their aim is “for families with children aged between 5 and 12 to get closer to nature, exploring, discovering and enjoying the wonders of the natural world. …” It also compiled a list of “Ten things to do before you’re 10,”including going on an insect hunt and hosting a teddy bears’ picnic. Nature’s Capital, a report issued by the National Trust in March 2008, calls for local funding for “well-being prescriptions” to get people in nature. The charity Mind recommends “green exercise” to be considered as a clinically valid treatment, and the UK’s growing Green Gym movement brings families together to exercise through nature restoration projects. This served as partial inspiration for C&NN’s Nature Clubs for Families.

Clearly, people throughout the world are hearing the larger message from their news providers; it is touching their hearts, and they are taking action. The movement to reconnect children and nature is burgeoning worldwide. It continues to be largely self organizing and spontaneously generating. It is a manifestation of a sweeping and compelling perceived need for systemic social change—where people everywhere are resonating with the importance of re-righting the balance between children and nature in their daily lives, to, in the words of Richard Louv, “heal the broken bond between children and nature.”