Nature Deficit Disorder

Hi Everyone!

I’d like to introduce you to a fabulous writer, Jennifer Grant. Jen has been writing for years and is a regular columnist for the Chicago Tribune, the Wheaton Sun, and a number of other publications. She is also my friend.

She did this piece in 2008 on Richard Louv’s now famous book “Last Child in the Woods.” It originally ran in the Wheaton Sun. In an effort to widen the voices and perspectives represented on this blog, Jen’s words seemed a fun fit.

Also, with winter still pressing it’s cold weight upon us, I though it might be nice to think about what to do with our families once we emerge from our snow cocoons once again. The midsection of this piece was originally layered with local Chicago options to get outside. I’ve replaced them with some national thought provokers.

Enjoy the piece and if you want to find out more about Jen, you can find her here: http://www.jennifercgrant.com/

Post:

You’ve heard of ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit – hyperactivity disorder.) You may even know about CD (conduct disorder) or ODD (oppositional defiant disorder.) Well, here’s another acronym to add to your list:  ND (nature deficit disorder.)

The term “nature deficit disorder” was coined in 2005 by Richard Louv in his book “Last Child in the Woods.” In the book, Louv explores the trend of children spending less time outdoors and describes the physical and behavioral problems that follow.

Childhood in our country, as any parent of young children knows, has changed radically over the past few decades. The days of mothers opening their front doors on a summer day and shooing their kids out, telling them to be home by dark, are long gone.

We parents glance, with sinking stomachs, at the photographs of missing children posted in public places. It seems like we can’t escape stories of abducted children on the news. We give our Saturdays over to sitting on the sidelines at nearby parks and watching our children play team sports.

When we were growing up, we ran around at twilight, playing “ghost in the graveyard” or “kick the can.” We arm older children with cell phones so we can check in with them easily, but mostly we want to keep our kids safely in sight.

Unstructured outdoor play, then, is nonexistent for most children. And, as a consequence, kids have few opportunities to know the natural world that is all around them.

Chances are that you don’t spend your summers alongside your kids, crouching by the side of a creek looking for tadpoles or bushwhacking through a natural area. You have jobs to do, the house to clean, and email to answer.

And there’s no way you would drop them off at the edge of a woods. Who knows who may be lurking in the shadows? So the kids, kept safely in our sights, are in the next room playing Nintendo or watching TV. It’s not ideal, but at least we know they’re safe.

Louv’s book defined this trend, acknowledging that kids are outside less than they used to be because of their parents’ fears for their safety, increasing restriction of access to natural areas, and the amount of time they spend with electronic media. The fact that childhood obesity has tripled in the last ten years is no coincidence. (Never mind the increase of depression and other disorders in children.)

Mary Kravchuk is a Wheaton resident and mother of two who was deeply affected by Louv’s book and who makes spending time outdoors with her children a priority.

“Inside our houses, we cannot possibly experience all the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations that nature offers in abundance,” Kravchuk said.

Kravchuk agrees with Louv and others that in some children, health concerns including childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression are linked to being disconnected from nature.

Many of us in the US spend our winter sequestered inside with below freezing temperatures and dreams of summer sunshine still months away. It is January now. And as many of us are hunkered under blankets, this makes it the perfect time to plan summer adventures that will get our children back into the woods. So log on and start dreaming:

Check out the American Hiking Society’s website for trail events in your area and around the country (http://americanhiking.org)

Plan a camping trip and make your reservations now! Many favorite local and national places book up for the year by Spring. Find a park at http://nps.gov and make a reservation.

Consider a membership to a local zoo, botanical garden, or nature preserve. Share it with another family and make frequent trips part of your hope for summer.

Put dreams of the sunshine on hold and make a snowman!

“It doesn’t take an expert to link kids with nature, just the willingness to discover together what’s out there,” Mary Kravchuk said.

Thanks Jen!!!!!!