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Last update: April 10, 2006 – 7:41 PM
Nature, a visitor's guide
Kids don't play outside as they once did, but getting our kids into the natural world for "a green hour" a day is good for them and good for the planet.
Kim Ode, Star Tribune
"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone," sang Joni Mitchell in "Big Yellow Taxi" -- an environmental anthem in the summer of 1970, as all those trees planted on the first Earth Day were taking root.
It's kind of weird now to realize that it wasn't nature that went away, but us.
In "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin Books, $10.74), journalist and child activist Richard Louv wrote about how kids don't play outside as they used to, and how this disconnect from nature hurts everything from their waistlines to their standardized test scores.
"I knew the book would push a button, but I didn't know it was this big a button," Louv said, speaking from his home in San Diego, where he's rarely been due to a blizzard of speaking engagements. Louv is to speak here April 22, part of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's ninth annual "Growing to Learn" conference. (See accompanying box.)
Driven inside by fear
How did this happen? Louv expected that parents he interviewed would point to a lack of access to nature. "But the vast number of responses was that they're scared to death of stranger danger."
It makes little sense; most predators are acquaintances and the rate of abductions has been falling. "What's been going up is the TV coverage of these tragedies -- over and over," Louv said. "We're literally being conditioned by TV to live in a state of fear."
Other fears also shape our culture, such as the "no running" signs on elementary school playgrounds in Broward County, Fla. At least, Louv said, they still have recess, which has become a popular target for budget-cutting.
It's no better at home. "Just try putting up a basketball hoop in some of these housing developments with covenants, let alone a treehouse," he said. "I just talked with a woman whose community association has recently outlawed chalk drawings on the sidewalks."
He sighed. "I don't understand the spread of why we put up with that. It's a reflection of the fear, and the need to control and schedule that's infused society."
Why we need nature
Nature helps kids mentally as well as physically. Students in California who took a science class outdoors got better grades -- 27 percent better, Louv said. That makes sense; if you're outside, you gain a deeper understanding of environmental science. But this also happened:
Students with some classes outdoors were better at settling disputes, which corroborated other studies. Research at the University of Illinois has found that young children who have regular contact with nature show reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. And yet, Louv said, kids are kept at the desks so their standardized test scores hit government benchmarks: "If we really cared about education reform, what we need is a No Child Left Inside movement."
How to get back outside
Parents need to realize what an important role the outdoors play in kids's lives, Louv said. Even in neighborhoods where it really is dangerous to go out, parents can work together to devise ways to take their kids somewhere green. But he's careful not to put all the responsibility on them, partly because many are themselves a little intimidated by nature.
"The ante is really up for institutions and organizations, for the Audubon Societies and nature centers, for the Sierra Clubs and inner-city nature programs. We need to have what I call the green hour -- get kids out for one hour a day."
Make the environment around your house as natural as possible. Leave a rock so kids can turn it over and find bugs. Stop mowing part of the backyard and see what comes up. Create what Louv called "nearby nature."
What the stakes are
A few years ago, Louv spoke to an auditorium of high school students. Climate change means that everything must change over the next 40 years, he told them. We'll need new kinds of architecture, agriculture, urban design, fuel. "That's an enormous opportunity for any kid in high school," he said. "Your task will be to develop a new civilization."
Silence. Afterward, he asked a teacher why the kids were so subdued. Were they bored? Tired?
Hardly, the teacher said. They were stunned. After a lifetime of hearing gloomy predictions for their future, as well as the planet's, "you presented them with something hopeful."
KIM ODE • kimode@startribune.com 612-673-7185
©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Last update: April 10, 2006 – 7:41 PM
Nature, a visitor's guide
Kids don't play outside as they once did, but getting our kids into the natural world for "a green hour" a day is good for them and good for the planet.
Kim Ode, Star Tribune
"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone," sang Joni Mitchell in "Big Yellow Taxi" -- an environmental anthem in the summer of 1970, as all those trees planted on the first Earth Day were taking root.
It's kind of weird now to realize that it wasn't nature that went away, but us.
In "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin Books, $10.74), journalist and child activist Richard Louv wrote about how kids don't play outside as they used to, and how this disconnect from nature hurts everything from their waistlines to their standardized test scores.
"I knew the book would push a button, but I didn't know it was this big a button," Louv said, speaking from his home in San Diego, where he's rarely been due to a blizzard of speaking engagements. Louv is to speak here April 22, part of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's ninth annual "Growing to Learn" conference. (See accompanying box.)
Driven inside by fear
How did this happen? Louv expected that parents he interviewed would point to a lack of access to nature. "But the vast number of responses was that they're scared to death of stranger danger."
It makes little sense; most predators are acquaintances and the rate of abductions has been falling. "What's been going up is the TV coverage of these tragedies -- over and over," Louv said. "We're literally being conditioned by TV to live in a state of fear."
Other fears also shape our culture, such as the "no running" signs on elementary school playgrounds in Broward County, Fla. At least, Louv said, they still have recess, which has become a popular target for budget-cutting.
It's no better at home. "Just try putting up a basketball hoop in some of these housing developments with covenants, let alone a treehouse," he said. "I just talked with a woman whose community association has recently outlawed chalk drawings on the sidewalks."
He sighed. "I don't understand the spread of why we put up with that. It's a reflection of the fear, and the need to control and schedule that's infused society."
Why we need nature
Nature helps kids mentally as well as physically. Students in California who took a science class outdoors got better grades -- 27 percent better, Louv said. That makes sense; if you're outside, you gain a deeper understanding of environmental science. But this also happened:
Students with some classes outdoors were better at settling disputes, which corroborated other studies. Research at the University of Illinois has found that young children who have regular contact with nature show reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. And yet, Louv said, kids are kept at the desks so their standardized test scores hit government benchmarks: "If we really cared about education reform, what we need is a No Child Left Inside movement."
How to get back outside
Parents need to realize what an important role the outdoors play in kids's lives, Louv said. Even in neighborhoods where it really is dangerous to go out, parents can work together to devise ways to take their kids somewhere green. But he's careful not to put all the responsibility on them, partly because many are themselves a little intimidated by nature.
"The ante is really up for institutions and organizations, for the Audubon Societies and nature centers, for the Sierra Clubs and inner-city nature programs. We need to have what I call the green hour -- get kids out for one hour a day."
Make the environment around your house as natural as possible. Leave a rock so kids can turn it over and find bugs. Stop mowing part of the backyard and see what comes up. Create what Louv called "nearby nature."
What the stakes are
A few years ago, Louv spoke to an auditorium of high school students. Climate change means that everything must change over the next 40 years, he told them. We'll need new kinds of architecture, agriculture, urban design, fuel. "That's an enormous opportunity for any kid in high school," he said. "Your task will be to develop a new civilization."
Silence. Afterward, he asked a teacher why the kids were so subdued. Were they bored? Tired?
Hardly, the teacher said. They were stunned. After a lifetime of hearing gloomy predictions for their future, as well as the planet's, "you presented them with something hopeful."
KIM ODE • kimode@startribune.com 612-673-7185
©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
