by Chuck Hall

If you grew up in a rural environment like I did, you probably remember the joys of playing in the woods. Building forts, taking hikes or collecting plants not only allows children an opportunity for fresh air, it also stimulates their imagination and curiosity. But as video games and television become more important in the lives of our children, they have less and less time to spend in nature.
Author Richard Louv thinks that our children are suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder. In Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder (2005, Algonquin Books), he argues that kids are so plugged into television and video games that they've lost their connection to the natural world. Louv believes that the hunter/gatherer is still very much a part of our collective psyche, and that people need nature in order to develop fully as human beings.
While video games and television may have some educational purposes, they do not allow for full use of the senses. The sights, sounds, smells and textures of the woods allow children to experience the world in ways that video games cannot. There is a growing body of evidence that children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a disorder in which children misinterpret signals from their senses, may benefit from sensory integration training. SPD can lead to symptoms like lack of coordination, difficulty in concentrating, and behavioral problems. A growing body of evidence suggests that allowing children to experience nature stimulates all of the senses, and therefore facilitates sensory integration, decreasing symptoms of SPD.

Parents may be fearful of visiting state or national parks, due to perceived dangers of abduction or assault, but those fears are probably exaggerated and exacerbated by the media. John Winters supervises 350 safety officers for the Department of Natural Resources. These safety officers are the uniformed rangers who oversee 96 state parks and recreation areas and 600 boating access sites.  According to Ranger Winters, of about 1,000 incident reports that visitors filed with rangers last year, just 16 were technically classified as assaults. Compare that to the estimated 10,000 annual assaults that occur in homes, towns, and city streets, and you can easily see that the woods are a far safer place to be!
You don’t have to take the kids to Yosemite to reap the benefits of nature. Most cities and towns have parks. You can even find nature in your back yard. An Ecotherapy exercise I do with my children in therapy is called ‘A Closer Look.’ I mark out a six-foot in diameter circle on the ground, then have them sit in it with a notebook and record what they see inside that circle for fifteen minutes. Many tell stories of insects interacting. Others describe blades of grass or leaves in great detail. Some talk about the wind and the sun. In every case, they use their imagination to examine the world around them more closely.
The opportunities to help your children overcome ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ abound. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination, so teach your kids to put down the X-Box and explore the world around them!
Chuck Hall’s latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.

Permalink:
http://my.kentuckynewera.com/post/ChuckHall/blog/culture_artist_column_january_6_2008_nature_deficit_disorder.html

Trackback URL:
http://my.kentuckynewera.com/post/ChuckHall/blog/culture_artist_column_january_6_2008_nature_deficit_disorder.trackback