A book review of:
Last Child in the Woods
By Richard Louv
A review by Diane Gordon
Director of Hooked on Nature's Children & Nature Program
(See hookedonnature.org or childrennatureandyou.org for more information)
BUY IT NOW!
Richard Louv’s who writes for the San Diego Tribune and serves on the advisory boards of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and Parents magazine, spent 10 years traveling around the country gathering material for his book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. His interviews with child-development researchers, environmentalists, parents, children, college students, teachers, scientists. and religious leaders led him to the conclusion that baby boomers are probably the last generation to have run wild in the woods, freely explored the nearby creek bed, or built dens and tree houses in nearby vacant lots. Children born after 1980 seldom hear the words “Go and play outside.” With few exceptions, theirs is a contained and constrained generation, with little or no direct experience of the natural world.
Urban growth and suburban sprawl have swallowed up vast acres of open land. Legal restraints that would have been unthinkable 30 years ago have further restricted children’s outdoor play. Trees in parks and playgrounds have been cordoned off to prevent tree climbing and possible lawsuits. Some condominium, cooperative and homeowners’ associations even ban private gardens and discourage free outdoor play, and there are local communities that require permits to build even the most primitive tree house.
Louv tells of schools, under pressure from administrators and parents to increase test scores that have eliminated hands-on nature study from the curriculum and, in some cases, even cancelled outdoor recess. The busy lives of today’s over-stretched and over-stressed parents allow little time for outdoor activities, and even good intentions have unintended consequences. Ordinances designed to protect endangered flora and fauna have eliminated access to wide swaths of seashore, marsh, meadowland, and wilderness. No wonder children are driven indoors to the lure of electronic entertainment, iPods, video games, and TV.
Unlike earlier generations, many of today’s parents see the outdoors as a dangerous place. Fears— of strangers and kidnappings, of gangs and drug dealers taking over parks and vacant corner lots, of encroaching wildlife from mountain lions to virus-bearing mosquitoes—while genuine, have also been sensationalized by the media. In the author’s words, “We have scared children straight out of the woods and fields.”
As a result, children are exhibiting what Louv has labeled “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Although the term does not appear in any medical lexicon, the author uses the term to describe a set of symptoms linked to our separation from nature. These include an increase in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and childhood obesity, lack of creativity and curiosity, ignorance of local flora and fauna, loss of respect for nature and the living world, and a diminishing sense of community.
The latest research demonstrates that when children have hands-on experiences with nature, even if it is simply in the weed lot at the end of the street, they reap the benefits. Researchers cite diminishment in levels of ADHD, fewer incidents of anxiety and depression, improved self-esteem, enhanced brain development, higher levels of curiosity and creativity, and a sense of connectedness to the community and the environment.
To provide all children with access to nature requires rethinking our current societal and cultural infrastructures. Models already exist, both in Europe and here in the States, and Louv devotes the second half of the book to exploring them. He cites contemporary examples of schools that use the surrounding ecological community as their classroom, often with astoundingly successful outcomes, including improved test scores. He looks at urban planning concepts that incorporate natural corridors for wildlife, energy-self-sufficient urban malls that merge nature into their design, city rooftop gardens, and green public spaces. “Surprisingly, one of the best examples of what the future could hold is the city of Chicago,” writes Louv. Under the leadership of Mayor Richard Daley, who aims to make Chicago the greenest city in the nation, the municipality has already restored 28 miles of boulevard gardens, and turned 21 acres of underused city land and abandoned gas stations into pocket parks and 72 community gardens. City parks have incorporated areas of restored prairie land, and City Hall boasts a 30,000-square-foot roof garden that helps insulate the building, absorbs excess storm water, and acts as a giant air purifier. It also houses two beehives and 4,000 honeybees, which yielded 150 pounds of honey in the first year.
Richard Louv is convinced that early nature experiences are essential if we are to produce tomorrow’s creative thinkers and change agents. In his words “Healing the broken bond between our young and nature is in our self interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demand it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depends on it. The health of the Earth is at stake.”
This newest edition includes:
*101 Things you can do to create change in your community, school, and family.
*Discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives.
*A new afterword by the author about the growing Leave No Child Inside movement.
*New and updated research confirming that direct exposure to nature is essential for the physical and emotional health of children and adults
BUY IT NOW!
