By: Susan Fries
“For children, nature comes in many forms. Unlike television, nature does not steal time; it amplifies it. It (nature) serves as a blank slate upon which a child draws and reinterprets the culture’s fantasies.” This begins Richard Louv’s appeal in “Last Child in the Woods” to recognize that children are losing their connection to nature through their increasingly limited experience of being outside.
Richard Louv received the 2008 Audubon Medal and has coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder” to explain the effect less contact with nature has on children’s’ mental health. Louv is the co-founder and chairman of Children & Nature Network, an organization dedicated to getting children back into nature. As well, Louv’s writings have inspired the “No Child Left Inside Act of 2009”. Imagine having to legislate that children have the right to be taught “environmental literacy,” nature and healthy living? While mainstream education has all but eliminated any connection between students and nature, almost all “alternative” educators recognize the necessity of unstructured exploration at nature sites to insure that students are equipped with creative problem solving skills. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here?
Find the rest of the review on Page 8 of That’s Natural! Quarter 1, 2010 here: http://issuu.com/ThatsNatural/docs/tnq1_2010_web