Nature And Its Effects On Children

In his book, The Nature Principle, Richard Louv talks about how nature is a natural resource to many of the problems we as humans are facing today, if we would just go outside and take advantage of it. Louv talks about how we (as American’s) have increased our use of technology vastly in the last ten years. While this is not comply bad, it does have negative effects on our physical, emotional and spiritual being if not kept in check. Louv goes on to share that, “the more high tech we become, the more nature we need” (Louv, 2011). Think about a time you have sat in your office for hours on end, working on your computer, at last lunch time came and you went outside for just five minutes because you forgot something in your car. In just those few minutes of going outside, you might have noticed a slight increase in your happiness level. Can you then venture to understand how this could be applied to children, or even increased with taking more time to enjoy nature? Richard Louv challenges his readers to not only be in nature, but to live with nature (Louv, 2011) .

“The developed world deprives children of a basic and inalienable right: unstructured outdoor play. Children today have substantially less access to nature, less free range, and less time for independent play than previous generations had.” This quote is from the research based paper titled, “Where the Wild Things Should Be: Healing Nature Deficit Disorder through the Schoolyard." This article touches many aspects of how children now a days need more exposure to nature like it was on the older days. Currently, there are many playgrounds around the United States and even more the world. This article is trying to bring awareness to the problem of if playgrounds do not have enough nature or is too safe then it is

Kids who live in places like housing tracts, condos, and planned communities are not allowed or discouraged to take part in outdoor activities. More than 57 million people live in places that control what that person and their family does. Even the public government can restrict children’s access to nature. “For the most part the criminalization of natural play is more suggestive than real. However, in some communities, young people who try to recreate their parents’ childhoods may face misdemeanor charges or see their parents sued.” Page 29. With these regulations kids are basically forced to join a sports teams. Sports are good for kids but it doesn’t let them be free and do what they want. Studies have shown that modern families are spending more time watching television and on the computer. Growing obesity rates among adults and children because of diets and sedentary lifestyles. Since kids are not going outside and playing as much they are getting less exercise and are more obese than ever. U.S. researcher Jane Clark, a University of Maryland professor of kinesiology suggests “that a generation of children is not only being raised indoors, but is being confined to even smaller spaces.” “calls them “containerized kids”- they spend more and more time in car seats, high chairs, and even baby seats for watching TV. When children do go outside, they’re often placed in containers-strollers-and pushed by walking or jogging parents.” These are used to keep the kids safe but research suggests that it effects the long-term health of children. As more people are being affected by nature deficit more scientific evidence is emerging that indicates direct contact with nature is essential for mental and physical

Then there’s this source I found called “The impact of technology.” This website tells me that a mere 20 years ago, children used to play outside all day, riding bikes, playing sports and building forts.

How children are raised and the environment they are in from the time they are born until they are on their own plays a huge part in how their personality is shaped and what their morals are. One thing that affects personality and morals is the religion that they associate themselves with, or what they believe in; many times the rituals that go along with their beliefs has a large effect on the children, usually more so than the belief itself. The second thing that plays a part in the shaping of your personality are the rituals done culturally that aren’t directly from your religion.

In Richard Louv’s “The Last Child in the Woods”, he discusses the relevant topic of the lack of exposure to nature that our 21st century children are receiving. Children today are very limited when it comes to their creativity, Louv discusses the importance of nature to a child’s development. Outside play allows children to be creative and let their imaginations run free. He refers to biodiversity and natural wilderness, being out in a large field, or your friends backyard that is full of trees forces kids to create their own fun. Loud states that over the years, the lack of room outside for play ad the need for electronic devices, has increasingly decreased the amount of outdoor play. He talks about how the demand for electronics effects the amount of play outside because parents don’t want to go outside anymore and play with their kids. They also don’t encourage their kids to play outside anymore because it is just easier to sit your kid infant of the tv and get things done around the house. This is a hard

The article continues by describing the potential negative impact restricting children's’ play has on their development. Hyndman provides data from completed research that reports that restricting students’ engagement in creative, unorganized play can lead to lower levels of confidence, increased boredom, and have negative effects on cognitive and social development. Playgrounds that were less restrictive provided students with an opportunity to increase their social engagement and physical activity skills.

A child has a ‘sense of wonder’ outlook on the world at a young age when they are learning many new things and experiencing opportunities they may not have been presented with otherwise and the McMillan sisters catered to this idea of how a child learnt. Due to this teachers would learn how to attract children through their likes and how to maintain their attention for more than short periods of time. McMillan also believed “Outdoor play and being taught in fresh air are important.” (Meggitt and Bruce, 2015: 247) This supports physical development as a child would be able to move around plenty outdoors as it would give a child many opportunities to move closer towards their early learning goals for physical development. Playing outdoors also

Children aren’t interested in playing with dolls, hotwheels or simply going outside, and seeing what nature offers them. Children now rely on technology to entertain themselves, which does not require them to use their brain. When children use to play outside and use their imagination, they’ve activated their brain because they

Biophilia hypothesis is the theory that humans possess a natural tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life (Britannica). Many advantages are hypothesized to be a result of spending more time in nature such as improved memory, test scores and mood for students. A study conducted in Barcelona Spain during 2012-2013 on students between the ages of seven to ten years old yielded results that would accept the green space hypothesis. It was observed that students had a year increase in working memory and a year reduction in inattentiveness when surrounded by a green space (CITE). Plants were located at home, in the neighborhood, and in school therefore the students were constantly exposed. The study linked the positive benefit between exposure to green space and cognitive development amongst school children. Chris Mooney reflects upon this study in his article “Why Green Spaces are good for your kid’s brain” and notes that the greenness of the commute and school made the difference in showing improvement over time in higher order “working memory” and attentiveness.

Childhood was drastically changed decade to decade; the change of outdoor play from tree houses and walking by the swamp to kids sitting inside on electronics. The author discusses the mental and physical effect of “nature deficit disorder” with children’s lack of outdoor time, which is not a medical term by any means, but Louv supports the theory. In the past few decades we have changed through three frontiers extremely fast: utilitarian to romantic and now an intellectualized view on nature. Louv briefly talks about a “forth frontier,” where he does seem very optimistic view of the future in children’s intimacy with nature. The connection with nature across all of America has weakened with time but there are many benefits of this connection.

Many psychologists have known that there are positive effects of being in nature, but scientist had to figure out why. Studies and tests that evaluate people’s mood from when they are in nature versus not being in nature has helped scientist realize how much nature can impact the brain. In our world today, too many people are stressed or are depressed about life, and I wanted to find a way to combat this problem: When looking for solutions to this problem I kept on finding sources saying that nature was the best medicine to treat these negative feelings. Furthermore, I decided to make a video showing different naturescapes in local parks in hopes of getting people to want to go out and enjoy nature for themselves. This idea seemed like a good one since research has consistently said that being in nature reduces the chance of depression, stress/cortisol levels, and it improves the cognitive process.

With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served

In the article, the author focuses more on the language of nature, the disadvantages the children’s lack when they are not exposed to nature. It would lead the society gradually losing its sense of place in the environment. Although the article did not focus more about children and nature, there is a strong tie between children and nature in the article. In the article, the author emphasized that so many languages in the school setting are not taught anymore among the children. This is because the beautiful wildlife, nature of language and culture is gradually losing its value in the 21st modern technology and industrial world. In addition, he talked about how the urban areas have lost sight of the wild interaction pattern of nature. He noted the people in the urban areas no longer have space to cook and trees behind the children’s school are cut down. The children in the urban areas, mostly stay indoors and play video games, watch movies and surfing the internet. Although spending time on the internet and the television is useful in some ways. It can also be harmful to the children if they sat down on one spot for hours on the internet and television. This leads children less active with their studies and environment. Once the children are not exposed to nature, it can also lead to physical, mental and social problems, such as obesity, eye problems and laziness. Due to the fact that the children do not have time to interact with each other, play outside in the woods and

Growing up, I was unknowingly spoiled with nature. I lived on a fairly main street so not that much was near me, especially for a little kid to go to alone. Despite the urbanization, my parents frequently would bring my two younger brothers and I to parks throughout the city. Playing on the jungle gyms, swinging on the swings, and just running around was such a normal part of my childhood. I spent countless hours breathing in fresh air, instilling me with a strong appreciation for the outdoors and a sense of inner peace in the outside world.