Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

by Louv, Richard

  87 A typical list of loose parts for a natural play area Simon Nicholson, “How Not to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts,” Landscape Architecture 62, no. 1 (1971): 30–34.

  88 Researchers have also observed that when children played Among the studies of creative play mentioned:

  Mary Ann Kirkby, “Nature as Refuge in Children’s Environments,” Children’s Environments Quarterly 6, no. 1 (1989): 7–12.

  Patrik Grahn, Fredrika Martensson, Bodil Lindblad, Paula Nilsson, and Anna Ekman, Ute pa Dagis. Stad & Land 145 (Outdoor daycare. City and country), Hassleholm, Sweden: Norra Skane Offset, 1997.

  Karen Malone and Paul J. Tranter, “School Grounds as Sites for Learning: Making the Most of Environmental Opportunities,” Environmental Education Research 9, no. 3 (2003): 283–303.

  Andrea Faber Taylor, Angela Wiley, Frances Kuo, William Sullivan, “Growing Up in the Inner City: Green Spaces as Places to Grow,” Environment and Behavior 30, no. 1 (1998): 3–27.

  Susan Herrington and Kenneth Studtmann, “Landscape Interventions: New Directions for the Design of Children’s Outdoor Play Environments,” Landscape and Urban Planning 42, no. 2–4 (1998): 191–205.

  88 In Denmark, a more recent study “Outdoor Kindergartens Are Better at Stimulating Children’s Creativity Than Indoor Schools,” Copenhagen Post, October 10, 2006.

  89 children were self-selecting the spaces in which they played Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo, “Is Contact with Nature Important for Healthy Child Development? State of the Evidence,” in Children and Their Environments: Learning, Using, and Designing Spaces, ed. Christopher Spencer and Mark Blades (Cambridge, UK): Cambridge University Press, 2006).

  90 “During the winter months [Clarke] often cycled home” Neil McAleer, Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1992), 4, 10.

  90 “I saw baby chickens come out of eggs” Neil Baldwin, Edison: Inventing the Century (1995; reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 18–19.

  91 “The changes of the seasons, the play of the light” Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin (New York: Signet Press, 1971), 64, 66.

  92 The two siblings “smuggled home innumerable beetles” Margaret Lane, The Tale of Beatrix Potter: A Biography (London: Penguin Books, 2001).

  94 inventiveness and imagination . . . was rooted in their early experiences of nature Edith Cobb, The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood (New York: Columbia University Press, 1977).

  94 Cobb’s theory must be amended to allow for different degrees of experience Louise Chawla, “Ecstatic Places,” Children’s Environments Quarterly 3, no. 4 (winter 1986); and Louise Chawla, “Life Paths into Effective Environmental Action,” Journal of Environmental Education 31, no. 1 (1990): 15–26.

  96 “the question of a speculative, unmarveling adult” Phyllis Theroux, California and Other States of Grace: A Memoir (New York: William Morrow, 1980), 55.

  8. Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment

  99 At least her school has recess National PTA, “Recess Is at Risk, New Campaign Comes to the Rescue, http://www.pta.org/ne_press_release

  _detail_1142028998890.html.

  99 At least her school has recess Steve Rushin, “Give the Kids a Break,” Sports Illustrated, December 4, 2006.

  99 At least her school has recess American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, “2006 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA,” http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/shapeofthenation/.

  99 At least her school has recess Paul Muntner, Jiang He, Jeffrey A. Cutler, Rachel P. Wildman, and Paul K. Whelton, “Trends in Blood Pressure among Children and Adolescents,” JAMA. 291, no. 17 (May 2004): 2107–2113.

  101 Between 2000 and 2003, spending on ADHD for preschoolers increased 369 percent Linda A. Johnson, “Behavior Drugs Top Kids’ Prescriptions,” Associated Press, May 17, 2004.

  101 Both boys and girls are diagnosed with ADHD “Methylphenidate (A Background Paper),” October 1995, Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration.

  102 each hour of TV watched per day by preschoolers increases . . . concentration problems J. M. Healey, “Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attention Problems in Children,” Pediatrics 113, no. 4 (April 1, 2004): 917–918.

  104 “an environment where the attention is automatic” Rebecca A. Clay, “Green Is Good for You,” Monitor on Psychology 32, no. 4 (April 2001).

  104 Those with a window view of trees . . . experienced significantly less frustration Rachel Kaplan, Stephen Kaplan, and Robert L. Ryan, “With People in Mind: Design and Management for Everyday Nature” (Washington, DC: Island Press, 1998).

  104 Hartig asked participants to complete a forty-minute sequence of tasks Clay, “Green Is Good for You.”

  105 “By bolstering children’s attention resources” N. M. Wells and G. W. Evans, “Nearby Nature: A Buffer of Life Stress among Rural Children,” Environment and Behavior 35, no. 3 (2003): 311–330. This study is not available online without purchase, http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/

  details/j0163.html.

  105 within two daycare settings Patrik Grahn, Fredrika Martensson, Bodil Lindblad, Paula Nilsson, and Anna Ekman, Ute pa Dagis. Stad & Land no. 145 (Outdoor daycare. City and country), Hassleholm, Sweden: Norra Skane Offset, 1997.

  105 Some of the most important work Frances E. Kuo and Andrea Faber Taylor, “A Potential Natural Treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a National Study,” American Journal of Public Health 94, no. 9 (September 2004). © American Public Health Association. The study and the educational Power Point are available on the Web site of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, http://www.llhl.uiuc.edu/.

  106 “the aftereffects of play in paved outdoor or indoor areas” Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances E. Kuo, and William C. Sullivan, “Coping with ADD: The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings,” Environment and Behavior 33, no. 1 (January 2001): 54–77.

  106 the positive influence of near-home nature on concentration Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances E. Kuo, and William C. Sullivan, “Views of Nature and Self-Discipline: Evidence from Inner City Children,” Journal of Environmental Psychology (February 2002): 46–63.

  107 “Participants were asked if they had had any experiences” Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances E. Kuo, and William C. Sullivan, “Coping with ADD: The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings,” Environment and Behavior 33, no. 1 (January 2001): 54–77.

  108 medications can also have unpleasant side effects Victoria Stagg Elliott, “Think Beyond Drug Therapy for Treating ADHD,” AMA News, April 19, 2004.

  110 “intuition emphatically asserts that nature is good for children” Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances Kuo. From a paper prior to publication, used with permission from the authors.

  9. Time and Fear

  116 When did playing catch in a park become a form of killing time Richard Louv, Childhood’s Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 109.

  116 Eighty percent of Americans live in metropolitan areas Paul M. Sherer, “Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space” (San Francisco: Trust for Public Land, 2003). Available on the Web at http://tpl.org.

  116 parks increasingly favor. . . “commercialization of play” J. Evans, “Where Have All the Players Gone?” International Play Journal 3, no. 1 (1995): 3–19.

  117 the amount of time children spent in organized sports increased by 27 percent The U.S. Youth Soccer Association, Richardson, Texas, http://www.usyouthsoccer.org.

  118 “I don’t really have much time to play at all” Richard Louv, Childhood’s Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 109.

  119 So where has all the time gone Sandra L. Hofferth and John F. Sandberg, “Changes in American Children’s Time, 1981–1997,” in Children at the Millennium: Where Have We Come From, Where Are We Going?, ed. Timothy J. Owens and Sandra L. Hofferth (New York: JAI Press, 200
1). Sandra L. Hofferth and Sally Curtin, “Changes in Children’s Time, 1997 to 2002/3: An Update” (2006).

  119 the amount of time American children . . . spent studying increased by 20 percent David Brooks, “The Organization Kid,” Atlantic Monthly, April 2001, 40.

  119 Television remains Victoria Rideout and Elizabeth Hammel, The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents (Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006). Donald F. Roberts, Ulla G. Foehr, Victoria Rideout, Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8–18 Year-Olds (Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005).

  119 as Internet use grows, adults spend more time working Norman Nie and Lutz Erbring, “Stanford Online Report,” Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, February 16, 2000.

  119 They also take fewer vacation days Linda Dong, Gladys Block, and Shelly Mandel, “Activities Contributing to Total Energy Expenditure in the United States: Results from the NHAPS Study,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 1, no. 4 (2004).

  120 both parents cut back on sleep Nancy Zukewich, “Work, Parenthood and the Experience of Time Scarcity,” Statistics Canada—Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division, no. 1, 1998.

  120 Our seeming inability Kenneth R. Ginsburg, and the Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” Pediatrics 119 (2007):182–191.

  10. The Bogeyman Syndrome Redux

  123 The boundaries of children’s lives John Fetto, “Separation Anxiety,” American Demographics 24, no. 11 (December 1, 2002).

  123 The trend is documented abroad L. Karsten, “It All Used to Be Better? Different Generations on Continuity and Change in Urban Children’s Daily Use of Space,” Children’s Geographies 3, no. 3 (2005): 275–290.

  124 in Great Britain, researchers have Mayer Hillman and John G. U. Adams, “Children’s Freedom and Safety,” Children’s Environments 9, no. 2 (1992). Also see: Mayer Hillman, John Adams, and J. Whitelegg, One False Move: A Study of Children’s Independent Mobility (London: Policy Studies Institute, 1990).

  124 In terms of child development Stephen R. Kellert, Building for Life (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005), 69.

  125 “When I was a little kid” Three quotes: Richard Louv, Childhood’s Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 26.

  127 By 2005, the rates of violent crimes Kenneth C. Land, “2007 Report: Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI), 1975–2005, with Projections for 2006” (Durham, NC: Foundation for Child Development, Duke University, 2007).

  127 In 2006, New York state’s Division New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, “Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse Annual Report 2006” (Albany, NY: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, 2006), 5.

  131 Worried about lions, tigers, and bears Sandra G. Davis, Amy M. Corbitt, Virginia M. Everton, Catherine A. Grano, Pamela A. Kiefner, Angela S. Wilson, and Mark Gray, “Are Ball Pits the Playground for Potentially Harmful Bacteria?” Pediatric Nursing 25, no. 2 (March 1, 1999): 151.

  132 the word “accident” Ronald Davis and Barry Pless, “BMJ Bans ‘Accidents’: Accidents Are Not Unpredictable,” British Medical Journal 322 (2001): 1320–1321.

  11. Don’t Know Much About Natural History

  134 “Just as ethnobotanists are descending on tropical forests” David Sobel, Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education, Orion Society Nature Literacy Series, vol. 1 (Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society, 1996).

  137 In 2001, the Alliance for Childhood Colleen Cordes and Edward Miller, eds., “Fools Gold: A Critical Look at Children and Computers” (a Web-published report by Alliance for Childhood, 2001). For more information, see http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/projects/

  computers/computers_reports_fools_gold

  _download.htm.

  138 public school districts continue to shortchange the arts William Symond, “Wired Schools,” BusinessWeek, September 25, 2000.

  139 “Ten Years of before-and-after photos” Richard Louv, The Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us (Berkeley, CA: Conari Press, 1996), 137.

  143 “The last century has seen enormous environmental degradation” Paul K. Drayton, “The Importance of the Natural Sciences to Conservation,” an American Society of Naturalists Symposium Paper, The American Naturalist (June 27, 2003): 1–13.

  12. Where Will Future Stewards of Nature Come From?

  147 “Environmentalists, by and large, are deeply invested” Theodore Roszak, as interviewed in Adbusters. Roszak is the author of The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993).

  148 The most important reason Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic, “Is Love of Nature in the US Becoming Love of Electronic Media?” Journal of Environmental Management 80, no. 4 (September 2006): 387–393.

  149 The idea of working at a national park Christopher Reynolds, “Without Foreign Workers, U.S. Parks Struggle,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2007, 1.

  150 In 1978, Thomas Tanner Thomas Tanner, ed., Special issue on significant life experiences research, Environmental Education Research 4, no. 4 (November 1998). Also see: Thomas Tanner, ed., Special section on significant life experiences research, Environmental Education Research 5, no. 4 (November 1999).

  150 Since then, studies Nancy M. Wells and Kristi S. Lekies, “Nature and the Life Course: Pathways from Childhood Nature Experiences to Adult Environmentalism,” Children, Youth and Environments 16, no. 1 (2006): 1–24.

  151 Children do need mentors Louise Chawla, “Learning to Love the Natural World Enough to Protect It,” Barn, no. 2 (2006): 57–78. Barn is a quarterly published by the Norwegian Centre for Child Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

  151 “Most children have a bug period” E. O. Wilson, Naturalist (New York: Warner Books, 1994), 56.

  152 “the bookish ‘Teedie’” Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Putnam, 1979), 19.

  152 Wallace Stegner filled his childhood with collected critters Wallace Stegner, “Personality, Play, and a Sense of Place,” Amicus Journal (renamed OnEarth), 1997.

  13. Bringing Nature Home

  167 “They were on an island in a sea of trees” Kathryn Kramer, “Writers on Writing,” New York Times, December 30, 2002.

  168 the word wasn’t in anybody’s vocabulary until the nineteenth century Patricia Meyer Spacks, Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).

  172 “Your job isn’t to hit them with another Fine Educational Opportunity” Deborah Churchman, “How to Turn Kids Green; Reinstilling the Love for Nature Among Children,” American Forests 98, no. 9–10 (September 1992): 28.

  173 “sanctuary, playground, and sulking walk” Robert Michael Pyle, The Thunder Tree: Lessons from an Urban Wildland (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1993), xv, xvi.

  173 “The kid who yawns when you say ‘Let’s go outside’” Churchman, “How to Turn Kids Green,” 28.

  175 the sunflower house Sharon Lovejoy, Sunflower Houses: Inspiration from the Garden—A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups (New York: Workman, 2001). For more information, see http://www.rain.org/~philfear/sunflowerhouse.html.

  176 “Our son was overstressed” Richard Louv, Childhood’s Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 40–41.

  14. Scared Smart

  179 We know that parks Paul M. Sherer, “The Benefits of Parks: Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space” (San Francisco: Trust for Public Land, 2003), http://tpl.org/content_documents/parks_for_people_Jul2005.pdf.

  185 “trying to teach personal safety to children” Quoted in Richard Louv, Childhood’s Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 39.

  15. Telling Turtle Tales

  196 Americans participating i
n traditional forms of recreational wildlife watching decreased From a paper by Responsive Management, a public opinion and attitude survey research firm specializing in natural resource and outdoor recreation issues, http://www.responsivemanagement.com.

  197 For a child who is primarily an audile learner Tina Kelley, “A Sight for Sensitive Ears: A New Generation of Audio Technology Is Opening Up the Wonders of Birding to the Visually Impaired—and the Sighted, Too,” Audubon 104 (January/February 2002): 76–81.

  197 “Don’t rush to the library for a book” Linda Batt, “All Hail Our Fair Feathered Friends: A Backyard Birdfeeder Makes Science Fun!” Mothering, January/February 2000, 58.

  198 For more than 150 years, New England anglers have been keeping fishing logs Richard Louv, Fly-Fishing for Sharks (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 220.

  198 Outdoor journaling is something a family can do together Linda Chorice, “Nature Journaling—the Art of Seeing Nature,” Missouri Conservationist, July 1997.

  200 “We’re part of nature” Quoted in Richard Louv, Fly-Fishing for Sharks (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 466.

  16. Natural School Reform

  203 experiential education teaches through the senses John A. Hattie, Herbert W. Marsh, James T. Neill, and Garry E. Richards. “Adventure Education and Outward Bound: Out-of-Class Experiences That Make a Lasting Difference,” Review of Educational Research (1997): 43–87.

  204 “Finland’s recipe is both complex and unabashedly basic” Lezette Alvarez, “Suutarila Journal: Educators Flocking to Finland, Land of Literate Children,” New York Times, April 9, 2004.

  206 For more effective education reform Gerald A. Lieberman and Linda L. Hoody, “Closing the Achievement Gap: Using the Environment as an Integrating Context for Learning” (San Diego: State Education and Environment Roundtable [SEER], 1998). “California Student Assessment Project, Phase One: The Effects of Environment-Based Education on Student Achievement” (SEER, 2000). “California Student Assessment Project, Phase Two” (SEER, 2005). Available online at http://www.seer.org/.