Nature deficit disorder

Children playing in a stream

Nature deficit disorder is a phrase coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods[1] meaning that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors[2] resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.[3][4] This disorder is not recognized in any of the medical manuals for mental disorders, such as the ICD-10[5] or the DSM-5.[6] Evidence was compiled and reviewed in 2009.[7] Richard Louv has stated "nature-deficit disorder is not meant to be a medical diagnosis but rather to serve as a description of the human costs of alienation from the natural world".

Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of electronic devices.[8] Recent research has drawn a further contrast between the declining number of National Park visits in the United States and increasing consumption of electronic media by children.[9]

The phrase has been criticized as a misdiagnosis that obscures and mistreats the root problems of how and why children do not spend enough time outdoors and in nature.[10]

Research

Richard Louv spent ten years traveling around the US reporting and speaking to parents and children, in both rural and urban areas, about their experiences in nature. He argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally "scared children straight out of the woods and fields", while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors "safe" regimented sports over imaginative play.

In recognising these trends, some people[11] argue that humans have an instinctive liking for nature—the biophilia hypothesis—and take steps to spend more time outdoors, for example in outdoor education, or by sending young children to forest kindergartens or forest schools. It is perhaps a coincidence that slow parenting advocates send children into natural environments rather than keeping them indoors, as part of a hands-off approach.[12]

Studies by other researchers throughout the world suggest physical activity and exposure to nature are important to good health,[13][14] report positive impacts upon mental health and wellbeing associated with natural environments,[15] and can reduce sadness and negative emotions.[16]

Causes

Effects

Organizations

The Children & Nature Network is leading the movement to connect all children, their families and communities to nature through innovative ideas, evidence-based resources and tools, broad-based collaboration and support of grassroots leadership.

The No Child Left Inside Coalition works to get children outside and actively learning. They hope to address the problem of nature deficit disorder. They are now working on the No Child Left Inside Act, which would increase environmental education in schools. The coalition claims the problem of nature deficit disorder could be helped by "igniting student's interest in the outdoors" and encouraging them to explore the natural world in their own lives.[24]

In Colombia, OpEPA (Organización para la Educación y Protección Ambiental)[25] has been addressing the issue since 1998. OpEPA's mission is to reconnect children and youth to the Earth so they can act with environmental responsibility. OpEPA works by linking three levels of education: intellectual, experiencial and emotional/spiritual into outdoor experiences. Developing and training educators in the use of inquiry based learning, learning by play and experiential education is a key component to empower educators to engage in nature education.

Critique

Elizabeth Dickinson, a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studied nature deficit disorder through a case study at the North Carolina Educational State Forest system (NCESF), a forest conservation education program. Dickinson called Louv's book "an important call to fix damaged human-nature relationships," and agrees that allowing students to connect directly with nature is therapeutic; however, she argues that it is what Louv's narrative is missing that prevents nature deficit disorder from effecting meaningful change. She attributes the problems described by nature deficit disorder as coming not from a lack of children outside or in nature, but from adults' own "psyche and dysfunctional cultural practices". According to Dickinson, "in the absence of deeper cultural examination and alternative practices, [nature deficit disorder] is a misdiagnosis—a problematic contemporary environmental discourse that can obscure and mistreat the problem."

Dickinson analyzed the language and discourses used at the NCESF (educators' messages, education and curriculum materials, forest service messages and literature, and the forests themselves) and compared them to Louv's discussion of nature deficit disorder in his writings. She concluded that both Louv and the NCESF (both who loosely support each other) perpetuate the problematic idea that humans are outside of nature, and they use techniques that appear to get children more connected to nature but that may not.

She suggests making it clear that modern culture's disassociation with nature has occurred gradually over time, rather than very recently. Dickinson thinks that many people idealize their own childhoods without seeing the dysfunction that has existed for multiple generations. She warns against viewing the cure to nature deficit disorder as an outward entity: "nature". Instead, Dickinson states that a path of inward self-assessment "with nature" (rather than "in nature") and alongside meaningful time spent in nature is the key to solving the social and environmental problems of which nature deficit disorder is a symptom. In addition, she advocates allowing nature education to take on an emotional pedagogy rather than a mainly scientific one, as well as experiencing nature as it is before ascribing names to everything.[10]

Louv has stated that the language we use to talk about the rest of nature is tricky, and much of it implies that we are separate from nature. He has written often to say we are not separate, and the assumption that nature is "the other" is at the root of many human pathologies.

References

  1. Marilyn Gardner, "For more children, less time for outdoor play: Busy schedules, less open space, more safety fears, and lure of the Web keep kids inside", Christian Science Monitor, June 29, 2006
  2. Diane Swanbrow "U.S. children and teens spend more time on academics", The University Record Online, The University of Michigan.
  3. 10 Reasons Kids Need Fresh Air by Kevin Coyle, National Wildlife Magazine
  4. Tammie Burak, "Are your kids really spending enough time outdoors? Getting up close with nature opens a child's eyes to the wonders of the world, with a bounty of health benefits", Canadian Living.
  5. http://priory.com/psych/ICD.htm. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/InfancyChildhoodAdolescence.aspx
  7. Charles, Cheryl; Louv, Richard (September 2009). "Children's Nature Deficit: What We Know – and Don't Know" (PDF).
  8. Stiffler, Lisa (January 6, 2007). "Parents worry about 'nature-deficit disorder' in kids". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  9. "Is There Anybody Out There?". Conservation. 8 (2). April–June 2007.
  10. 1 2 Elizabeth Dickinson (2013). "The Misdiagnosis: Rethinking "Nature-deficit Disorder"". Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. doi:10.1080/17524032.2013.802704.
  11. Kellert, Stephen R. (ed.) (1993). The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press. ISBN 1-55963-147-3.
  12. Hodgkinson, Tom (2009). The Idle Parent: Why Less Means More When Raising Kids. Hamish Hamilton. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-241-14373-5.
  13. Pretty, J.; Angus, C.; Bain, M.; Barton, J.; Gladwell, V.; Hine, R.; et al. (2009). "Nature, childhood, health and life pathways" (PDF). University of Essex.
  14. Kuo, F. E. (2010). "Parks and other green environments: essential components of a healthy human habitat" (PDF). National Recreation and Park Association.
  15. Townsend, M. & Weerasuriya, R. (2010). "Beyond blue to green: The benefits of contact with nature for mental health and well-being". Melbourne, Australia.
  16. Bowler, D. E.; Buyung-Ali, L. M.; Knight, T. M. & Pullin, A. S. (2010). "A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments". BMC Public Health. 10 (1): 456. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-456.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Outside Agitators by Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
  18. 1 2 Last Child In The Woods Interview by Claus von Zastrow, Public School Insights
  19. 1 2 National Environmental Education Foundation
  20. Jim Barlow, "", News Bureau
  21. Richard Louv, "", Orion Magazine.
  22. American Academy of Ophthalmology (2013-05-01). "Evidence Mounts That Outdoor Recess Time Can Reduce the Risk of Nearsightedness in Children". Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  23. "New research an eye opener on cause of myopia". 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  24. Nature Deficit Disorder, No Child Left Inside Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  25. http://www.opepa.org

Further reading

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