Last Child in The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficite-Disorder

“In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace.” Pg. 7.

  

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Louv, Richard. 2008. Algonquin Books. Chapel Hill, NC.

Definitions:

  ·      Nature-Deficit Disorder

 o   Author states numerous time that this is not an actual disorder recognized by the FDA or by doctors or psychologists (pg. 10, 100).

o   Louv defines this as: Children separated from nature and “natural play time” develop disorders such as ADHD and depression. These children lack skills such as: creative thinking, problem solving, social skills, and empathy.

·      Natural Play

o   Unstructured, unsupervised play time outside in green spaces

·      Nature

o   “For children, nature comes in many forms. A newborn calf; a pet that lives and dies; a worn path through the woods; a fort nested in stinging nettles; a damp, mysterious edge of a vacant lot…” Pg. 7

o   Backyards, parks, edge of a lawn and trees, a mud puddle. Doesn’t have to be a nature preserve or a national park, nature can be found anywhere something is green and growing or a patch of dirt or puddle.

·      Nature Therapy

o   Health benefits of being in or near nature or green spaces and activities associated with green spaces.

·      Green Space

o   Does not necessarily mean “green” but can be desert, farm land, water, rocks.

The Diagnosis:

“A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development.” Pg 43.

1.    ADHD

a.    Aggravated by separation from nature and natural play.

b.   “Between 2000 and 2003, spending on ADHD for preschoolers increased 369 percent.” Pg.101 (author does not cite where this information comes from)

c.    Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle believes that the more TV watched by pre-K children the increase of symptoms of ADHD occur. (Pg. 101)

2.    Depression

a.    Tom Delate, director of research at Express Scripts: observing an increasing trend of pediatricians prescribing antidepressant medications for young children and adolescent children. (pg. 49)

b.   “In 2004, data analysis by Medco Health Solutions, the nation’s largest prescription benefit manager, found that between 2000 and 2003 there was a 49 percent increase in the use of psychotropic drugs ¾ antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and anitdepressants.” Pg. 49 (Louv did not mention if the increase was in adult or child consumption or both)

The cause of human separation from nature:

“Yes, as the pace of life, especially for children, has quickened­­­­ -- as we have striven to improve schools, increase productivity, accumulate wealth, and provide more technological education -- the consequences of our intentions are not always what we intend.” Pg.116.

1.    Time:

a.    Longer work hours for parents

b.   Feeling the need to schedule out everything

c.    Chores at home for both parents and children

d.    Idea of unstructured time is a “waste” for children and adults

 

2.    Technology:

a.    TV; dulls creativity and imagination (unlike books which can enhance and encourage imagination pg. 166). Increase of televisions per household and car, increased percentage of TV watched.

b.   Computer, video games, smart-phones also play a major factor

c.    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) studies:

§  “The CDC found… In the United States, children ages six to eleven spend about thirty hours a week looking at a TV or computer monitor.” Pg. 47.

3.    Fear:

a.    Stranger-danger: we now no longer trust children to walk to school unattended, play outside without an adult present, and fear kidnappers in every situation.

§  David Finklehor, Family Research Laboratory, UNH: “By a wide margin, most abductors weren’t strangers, but family members or someone the family knew. Second, the actual annual figure of stranger abductions was two hundred to three hundred” Pg 127.

§  Duke University Child and Well-being 2007 Index: “By 2005, the rates of violent crimes against young people had fallen well below 1975 levels…” Pg. 127

b.   Media generated fear

c.    Fear of the unknown, mainly now nature:

§  Dorothy: Do – do you suppose we'll meet any wild animals?

§  Tin Man: Mmm, we might.

§  Dorothy: Oh!

§  Scarecrow: Animals that – that eat straw?

§  Tin Man: Uh, some. But mostly lions and tigers and bears.

§  Dorothy: Lions?

§  Scarecrow: And tigers?

§  Tin Man: [nodding] And bears.

§  Dorothy: Oh! Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz)

The Solution (small scale):

“Some of the most important work in this area has been done at the Human-Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois…found that green outdoor spaces foster creative play, improve children’s access to positive adult interaction ¾ and relieve the symptoms of attention-deficit disorders.” Pg. 105

1.    ADHD and Depression

a.    Chicago’s Human-Environment Research Laboratory found that by having children with ADHD spend time in “green spaces” reduced the number of ADHD symptoms (pg. 107)

b.   An anonymous child psychiatrist: “Though he is a firm believer in the proper use of the currently available medications for ADHD, he is encouraged by the possibility that nature therapy might offer him another professional tool.” Pg. 109.

c.    Decrease the amount of pavement in a school play yard and add natural features such as rocks, trees, sand pits, or even water, such as a shallow stream.

d.    More windows and views of greenery outside of classroom windows. The same goes for us adults; Stephen and Rachel Kaplan studied 1,200 corporate and state office employees and presented findings to the American Psychological Society in 1993: “Those with a window view of trees, bushes or large lawns experienced significantly less frustration and more work enthusiasm that those employees without such views.” Pg.103-104.

e.    Nature Therapy

2.    Time and Fear

a.    “Parents already feel besieged by the time difficulty of balancing work and family life.” “Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life -- these are the rewards that await a family when it invites more nature into children’s lives.” Pg.163

b.   After school activities that promote nature interaction and free play, summer nature camps, more recess time in a schoolyard that has no or little pavement and natural features for children to play on or in. This relieves some of the pressure on parents to get children outside. Also reduces the fear of unsupervised children.

c.    Parents and educators lead by example to children; those that are passionate about nature pass that passion on to the children in their lives. Parents and educators need to “…find or rediscover our own sense of joy, excitement and mystery.” Pg. 165

My issues and likes:

·      Louv admits his faults as a parent himself, not letting his sons go play in a canyon unless they take their cell phones with them. This makes him relatable and believable to his audience, rather than a preacher.

  ·      The author wrote this more as a novel than as a research book. I can see why he did this to expand his audience base outside of educators in hopes to convince more people to realize they need to get kids outdoors. However, from my science background, I needed solid evidence and citations, which I didn’t always get. I had to paw around to find some and others just weren’t there.

  ·      Louv takes a “doom and gloom” approach to this; I understand that the majority of the population is in suburbs or cities, however plenty of Americans have kids who are out in nature, and getting plenty of natural playtime. I also know of adults who grew up in cities, and did not have any interaction with nature growing up, and are now big nature lovers and let their kids run wild through fields and forests.

·      I was hoping since this book was a revision of his 2003 book, which there would be more evidence and research into this idea; such as him finding or convincing a school or schools that have implemented more natural play, revamped their playgrounds, and provided more green space for kids.