Last Child in the Woods

By Chip Young

“Rhode Island… could become the leading state in the children and nature movement.“

On Saturday, September 27, at the Warwick campus of the Community College of Rhode Island, the acclaimed author, founder of the Child & Nature Network, and activist, Richard Louv, delivered a lecture based upon his latest book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.  The book has stimulated an international conversation about the future relationship between children and nature, and has helped spawn a movement that is now moving into federal and state legislatures, national parks and local schools. 

U.S. Senator Jack Reed had been set to do the intro for Louv, but for obvious reasons was in D.C.  But Reed is the author of the “No Child Left Inside Act,“ a new initiative designed to strengthen environmental education programs in America’s classrooms and reconnect more kids with nature, which runs hand in glove with Louv’s thinking and advocacy work.  The No Child Left Inside Act has picked up momentum and passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week by a wide margin of 293-109.

“Teaching children about the environment and giving them a hands-on opportunity to experience nature should be an important part of the curriculum in our schools,“ said Reed in a message from Washington.  “The strong vote in the House is a positive first step toward restoring environmental education in America’s classrooms.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to include NCLI as part of a broader elementary and secondary education bill.“

Louv serves as chairman of the Children & Nature Network, an organization helping to build the international movement to connect children with nature. He also serves as honorary co-chair of The National Forum on Children and Nature. Co-chaired by four state governors, the Forum, sponsored by the Conservation Fund, will fund programs around the country designed to get kids outside. 

“Perhaps because Rhode Island is the second most-densely populated state, Rhode Islanders have always promoted efforts to protect the natural areas that define their state through support of state and local bonds and creation of parks and preserves,” Louv observed. “The Ocean State boasts over 300 miles of coastline, and, thankfully, supports a number of growing efforts through conservation groups, schools and political leaders to get children out-of-doors to connect with the nature that they find in their communities. But like every state, Rhode Island can do much more—in fact, it could become the leading state in the children and nature movement.“

Some points Louv makes very well.  First, is that it has been shown that test scores go up with increased exposure to nature and the outdoors.  As does a child’s interest and excitement about nature and school in general, even if the outdoor exposure is in small doses.  And teachers who get their kids outside are less likely to burn out.  Take note, NEA.

Along those generational lines, there is often as much need for adults to haul their lazy rear ends somewhere further than from the front door to the car and then the car to the workplace or the store.  Like kids, some grown-ups and parents are a bit of afraid of what’s out there, and it is a not a comfortable place to be.  Can I sit here?  Is that poison ivy?  What if I get my feet wet, catch a cold and die?  C’mon, Daddy and Mommy.  You aren’t being asked to be Daniel Boone or Calamity Jane.  Just turn off the TV, grab little Junior and Sissy by the hand, walk them through the park, make up the names of plants and trees you don’t know (OK, maybe “Christmas tree tree” is not the true name of a fir tree, but it’ll do), and fake your own enjoyment.  You might even find you are having a good time in spite of yourself.

I thought one of the most telling bits of information in Louv’s 90-minute presentation and extended Q&A was the correlation between the rise in childhood obesity and the increase in organized sports for kids.  Having spent the days before Louv’s talk at a high school soccer team reunion with a bunch of other jaded, busted-up old jocks a lot of the discussion among was about kids and parents’ attitudes today, which the consensus was needs a lot of work. Too much regimentation and not enough being set loose to have fun.  The learning will come with the playing, so hold the uniforms and the red-faced parents on the sidelines.

I am of the mind that if you don’t have grass stains on your pants, a missing tooth or a scar you picked up from playing outside you shouldn’t be allowed into school.  All my friends, male and female, took a few knocks on the playground or doing something fun outdoors on their own.  I remember falling out of a tree the day before I attended my first day of first grade and tearing up my hand, so I made my entrance into public education with stitches in my palm and a red badge of courage, although I probably should have had an orange badge of stupidity as well. 

The presentation by Richard Louv was sponsored by a partnership of leading local environmental organizations that are dedicated to environmental advocacy and education: The Nature Conservancy; Audubon Society of R.I.; the Coastal Institute at the University of Rhode Island; Norman Bird Sanctuary; R.I. Environmental Educational Association; Roger Williams Park Zoo; Save the Bay; and the Apeiron Society for Sustainable Living. 

All of the co-sponsors of Louv’s lecture are actively involved in education initiatives that bring children and nature closer together:

• The Nature Conservancy works to protect the wild places that provide the “natural classrooms” about which Richard Louv writes in Last Child in the Woods.
• Roger Williams Park Zoo is a living classroom whose exhibits and education programs serve children throughout the Southeastern New England region.
• The Audubon Society of Rhode Island has a wildlife refuge system, protecting nearly 9,500 acres of wildlife habitat, which provides students with the opportunity to discover first-hand wetlands, fields, forests, and streams.
• Save The Bay has been doing standards-based experiential education programming for over 20 years, using Rhode Island’s largest natural resource, Narragansett Bay, as its classroom.
• The Norman Bird Sanctuary has public education programs such the Neighborhood Naturalists After School Club and the Saturday Explorers Club that link to the spirit of Last Child in The Woods. 
• Apeiron’s outdoor programs help people of all ages discover and experience their connection to the world around them, choose courses of action that promote health, well being and the environment, and become leaders of sustainable living in their communities. 

For more information on each organization’s educational programs, please contact them directly.  NOW.  Our kids need it.