Help Shrink Nature Deficit Article

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Help Shrink Nature Deficit

We can fight nature deficit in a variety of ways, but it requires altering an ingrained mentality and sloughing off conventional wisdom regarding some aspects of childhood and child rearing. It will require the participation of parents, teachers, the community and even the children themselves.

Author: Gef Staff

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Cultural changes are often imperceptible, occurring slowly over generations, accumulating through smaller, seemingly unrelated events. We rarely think of ourselves as living through these changes. Yet looking back, the past is clearly very different from the present. There are obvious signs of this type of metamorphosis such as fashion, language and pastimes. But there are also more subtle evolutions. For instance, think of the way children live, learn and play today compared to just a generation ago.

It’s natural to romanticize the past. Childhood, in particular, is vulnerable to accumulating a joyful patina as it recedes further into memory. Yet stating certain truths about what has happened cannot be blamed on nostalgia. Children are spending more and more time indoors and less time engaging with nature on its own terms. This is a quantifiable phenomenon and one that is also readily apparent with a variety of causes. Individually they fail to convince those who would naturally connect suburban zoning decisions with childhood obesity, or a rise in lawsuits with ADHD, but seen together they cohere into a recognizable pattern that has altered the behaviour and consciousness of our youth.

Author Richard Louv describes this disconnect as ‘nature-deficit disorder.’ In his book “Last Child in the Woods,” he presents a persuasive case as to the importance of nature to a child’s physical and emotional well-being. More and more research is being conducted connecting various childhood and adolescent maladies to a sedentary, restricted and unimaginative lifestyle.

For instance, technology is one powerful influence. Cable television, computers, video games, portable music players are all prominent features in a young person’s life. This is not to say these things are inherently bad or should be shunned. However, when these pursuits come at the exclusion of all else something valuable is lost.

Though Louv called this a ‘disorder’ this is slightly misleading. It is not a disorder in the sense the word is used in popular culture. It is not genetic; it can’t be addressed by pharmacology or therapy. Nor does it imply any particular deficiency on the part of any individual. Rather, it merely describes alienation between humans and nature, an estrangement in a relationship that has existed since the beginning of time, and one that threatens to make us all poorer if it continues to degenerate.

However, the cure is simple. We need to reintroduce this generation to nature. Not simply in a structured classroom setting but in a pure, natural way. We must allow kids to romp freely through the woods, jump streams, catch frogs and return home covered in mud. This is a joy that’s being denied them as we succumb to a media-fuelled fear: fear of crime, of injury, of bugs, plants and predators. Fear undoubtedly has made our children safer but at what cost and how will a purely ‘safe’ childhood serve them as adults?

We can accomplish this change in a variety of ways but it requires altering an ingrained mentality and sloughing off conventional wisdom regarding some aspects of childhood and child rearing. It will require the participation of parents, teachers, the community and even the children themselves.

Green Education Foundation (GEF) was founded with this cause in mind. GEF sees this deficit as a tremendous opportunity to change the way kids live, learn and play for the better. By designing and promoting ways in which children can both learn about nature and learn in nature, they will be much more inclined to preserve nature. We will also present information and articles describing the causes, consequences and connections of the nature deficit, some of which were mentioned above.

Teachers and school administrators will play an important role in this effort. Schools have children as a captive audience for six hours or more a day and are one of the most powerful influences in their lives. There are many exciting ways that schools can reignite children’s passion for nature. GEF hopes to assist and encourage teachers with their efforts by designing and promoting programs aimed at increasing children’s exposure to nature. We hope you’ll join us in our efforts to shrink the nature deficit.

About Author

GEF, a non-profit organization, was founded in early 2008 with the goal of promoting and enhancing the state of environmental education today. K-12 education is a major shaper of the truths, attitudes, ethics, concepts and behaviors of American society. GEF believes that by reshaping educational curriculum and programs so that they systematically and effectively foster environmental awareness, our society will be able to make greater progress towards the achievement of a sustainable world.

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