Exploring the Symptoms and Possible Consequences of Nature Deficit Disorder

When I was a child, my days in the late spring through late fall found me on my bicycle heading for the nearby woods. There was a small stream flowing through those woods, and I would lock my bike to a tree near one of the trails and spend my day hiking. My friends and I would overturn rocks and find hellgrammites1 or crayfish.2 I could observe the tadpoles in their cycle of life from egg to frog. I learned to identify different animals, such as squirrel, chipmunks, skunks or deer, based on their tracks. I would find the leftover shells from the raccoons feasting the night before. I would scuttle about the forest all day long, never caring about what might happen, other than injury to self. I bought books3 so I could identify everything I found - plants, animals, trees, etc. - all because I spent time outside and needed to know more. I would also journey as a teen across town to the local state park and conduct the same activities, as well as fishing in the river which ran through the park. All of this time was unstructured; I merely told my parents where I was going and when I would be back. I even did a project in High School on pollution in local watersheds because of my time outdoors.

Today's child, however has structured play. We arrange 'play dates' with other children, or we give our children over to supervised sports - typically rushing about from activity to activity. We are afraid to allow our children to venture outdoors unsupervised because of fear of predators - human or otherwise. Admittedly, even I am frightened of my children becoming victims of human predators, or to falling ill because of an insect bite. As a result, the child of the 'modern world' spends an inordinate amount of time inside playing video games or watching television.

In an editorial4 published in a recent issue of PA Angler & Boater,5 Executive Director Dr. Douglas J. Austen uses a phrase coined by Richard Louv in his book Last Child in the Woods: "Nature-Deficit Disorder."6 To Louv, this term means our youth are completely disconnected from nature, and as a result of this disconnection, the future of the environment may be in doubt:

In a Salon interview, Dr. Louv discusses spending 10 years performing research by speaking to rural and urban parents and children.8 In his book, Dr. Louv combines his collected anecdotes with studies showing that exposure to nature has numerous positive benefits to those children who participate in "nature play." He then draws conclusions showing the potential disconnect from nature that the lack of unstructured outdoor activity may cause. He also notes the obesity epidemic among children coincides with the greatest organized sports increase in history. However, because the obesity problem is a complex issue, he does not draw any direct conclusions, simply noting it as a "striking fact". His study shows parents are being conditioned to be fearful, yet in a 2005 Duke study, it was noted American kids are safer now than at any time since 1975. According the the study, violent victimization of children has dropped more than 38% in the ensuing thirty years, despite what we see in the public media.9

While interesting, the above studies admittedly do not provide empirical evidence indicating children are disconnected from nature. It is, in fact, difficult to see how such would be investigated. (What toy would you use as the basis for such a study?) Additionally, I am not aware of any study which connects children, nature and an affinity for conservation. There are, however, some which connect nature to increased cognitive, and social and health benefits to children.

Dr. Stephen Kellert of Yale University devotes a chapter to the subject of nature and childhood development in his book Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection.10 Within it, Kellert admits there is a lack of research and his conclusions are tentative, but he clearly states:

Kellert further claims in his conclusion that while children can endure and survive in our polluted environment and may even survive the death of many different life forms, it seems unlikely they will prosper.

Another study from the American Institutes for Research has found outdoor education programs have a significant positive effect upon students. Their study focused on at-risk youth, of which 56% had never spent time in a natural setting. The conclusions of the study are enlightening. Those subjects who attended outdoor school raised their science scores by 27%. Not only that, the science knowledge was retained six to ten weeks after the program. There were benefits in personal and social skills - specifically conflict resolution, self-esteem, problem solving, and many other important areas. There were even gains by the English language learners related to motivation, cooperation with peers, leadership and peer relationships.12

Perhaps it is because of such studies that many states still feel a need to incorporate environmental education into the classroom - even without significant and directly applicable empirical studies. On April 21st, Governor Christine Gregoire signed a bill in Washington to provide $1.5 million annually for outdoor programs for "underserved" children (i.e., children who are locked into the cityscape and never experience the wilderness). Known as the Leave No Child Inside Initiative, this legislation is designed to "establish an outdoor education and recreation program to improve students' performance on the essential academic learning requirements for science through participation in outdoor educational and recreational opportunities. Further, it is the intent of the program to recognize the resulting benefit of improved student health through involvement in outdoor recreation."13

While it is a step in the right direction, alas, it is subject to the "availability of funds" clause. The other issue with the plan is it is still limited to structured play and as such, is not very beneficial. We as parents have been conditioned to believe unstructured play is 'wasteful' - that our children must be doing something productive with every waking moment. This is disputed by none other than The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In a recently published a study entitled The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds, AAP concludes unstructured play is important.14 Their press release summarizes the report with the following:

The National Wildlife Fund has created a site called Green Hour to promote unstructured play outdoors with parental cooperation and involvement.16 Children need to connect with things of nature; they need to know that nature is not only mostly harmless, but beneficial to society as a whole. Based on the few studies available, it is evident that unstructured interaction with nature by children has many beneficial effects.

Reflecting on the editorial which began all of this, I admit some timidity in listening to the state agency make such a blanket statement about the dangers of our children not spending unstructured time outdoors. The PA Fish and Boat Commission, after all, does have tourism revenue as part of its agenda. The revenue from fishing alone is estimated to generate $1.6 billion in to the economy of Pennsylvania--with a direct $53 million impact on the PA General Fund from income and sales tax--and an overall positive impact of $4.7 billion to the state.17 Pennsylvania has thousands of miles of stream, river and lake shoreline which help generate revenue from all forms of angling. Tourists come from out of state, even across the country, to fly fish for trout in our mountain streams. Sales of fishing and hunting licenses, however, are on the decline; fewer children are choosing these activities as hobbies, preferring instead to plug in and tune out.

If Nature Deficit Disorder is real, then it may even affect adults living in the world now. Many do seem to live in a bubble, and do not believe anything in nature is necessary for the survival of the world. This type of disconnect will surely doom our planet. Restoring this balance between children and nature may be a key factor in saving our planet from pollution, habitat destruction, overpopulation and help restore the delicate balance of all ecosystems.

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