Olga Khazan Green Spaces

Environmental: A child’s environment plays a big role in their development. Exposure to different forms of activities that exercise the analytical and creative sides of the brain are important.

Physical activity is important to the short term and long term health and well being of children. In the short term physical activity helps children to build muscle, develops the skeletal frame, develops the heart and lung function and helps to prevent obesity. If children have enough physical activity a day which is said to be up to an hour it can help the children get to sleep easier and for longer periods of time, this can then lead onto long term benefits as if the activity is in the garden it will also help the child to build up a good immune system so they will be less likely to fall ill to the common cold or the flu. This outdoor environment helps the over all wellbeing of the children as the outdoors makes them

“Outdoor education is in line with current thinking, but also echo’s the philosophy of the McMillan sisters. Practitioners today should be aware of the opportunities afforded by outdoor provision, not only in terms of developing children’s learning, but also with positive benefits to their health” (Cooper 2004)

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

Being outdoors has a positive impact on children's sense of well-being and helps all aspects of children's development.

In the essay “ Learning Responsibility on City Sidewalks”, the author Jane Jacobs shows us that it is important to let children interact with city sidewalks because they can learn lots of things there. On the other hand, the author also argues that it is necessary to select appropriate public areas because not all the public areas can give children advantage lessons. Based on author’s observations, some parents will allow their children play in parks so they are convenient to take care of children and save money for hiring daycare. However, it is not useful for children to learn in this environment. For example, children will not learn independent under parent’s supervision. Combing all the factors,

Louis. When living in a hard up income area there is always a tightly packed space between older automobiles, busses, and trucks. This destroyed the ozone, which would bring about cardiovascular problems such as asthma attacks. In the article Gammon states that "In Southern California communities , exposure through air pollution and traffic emissions stunts children's lung growth ,according to USC research " This hints that if a child happens to live nearby or is nearby a polluted area he or she is unprotected and is exposed to having

Khazan first begins the article by sharing with the readers her childhood experience growing up in the industrial city of Los Angeles. She reported that nine percent of the asthma cases at her school were due to the intensity of traffic fumes produced by the five-hundred trucks per hour passing her elementary school campus. She continues on to say that air pollution is not just a contributor to asthma, but to many other medical issues. Although these statistics are not directly correlated to affecting a child's intelligence, it can be assumed that constant inhalation of toxic fumes can not be good for brain development.

According to Ginsburg (2006), he believes that play is a vital part of children’s development and is fundamental for every child. This is because playing in a safe outdoor environment will benefit children in acquiring life skills and improve children in all areas of their development. According to Clements (2004), he states that outdoor play allows children to explore their local neighborhood, learn the rules of everyday life and discover the different textures and elements in the world. When children spend most of their childhood time playing or working in natural settings, they will learn to handle challenges, solve problems and are able to have greater respect for themselves, for others, and for the environment. Looking at children’s perspectives, when the environment is clean and safe, learning can take place comfortably. Children should be given the priority to experience stimulating environment where all their needs are taken

The American Psychological Association studies have shown that environmental factors can contribute to an individual’s intelligence factor. Different revolution factors, natural selection factors, and environmental differences have an impact (Saletan 4). For example, a black kid living in a run down neighborhood may do worse than a white kid living in a rich neighborhood. Due to this, most children feed off of their peers, either at school or even at home. People in disadvantaged groups generally score lower on IQ tests than those who are not disadvantaged (Jackson 1). Different races have different advantages due to

(claim of value) The United States’ educational system does little to promote “green” living or to enforce environmentally-friendly policies within the school system. Within the local educational system that I am part of, this fact is apparent. Glen Allen has prepared me to start living a “green lifestyle” only by means that I have

The Clean Air Act (CAA) has impacted every single person’s health in the United States—luckily for the good. Without the CAA, companies would have no restrictions on what they could or could not release into the air. If companies continued to do pollute the air without any concern, then there would be major impact on people’s health nationwide. For children, the risks of air pollution are much greater than adults. Children tend to spend more time outside which exposes them to more air pollution. Children also tend to breathe through their mouths, which allows air toxins to go directly to the lungs. If young children are exposed to major air pollution, they are prone to have undeveloped lungs and

Parental lore already includes the notion that “fresh air” and time outside is good for children, and there is evidence that children are drawn to natural settings further, forms of greenspace ranging from neighborhood parks to shady back yards are often widely available at no cost (Taylor & Kuo, 2011). Some other positive outcomes include on side effects (unlike medications), better sleep patterns due to increase physical activity from being outdoors, which in turn can also benefit overall health issues like diabetes and

Surveys show that in various exercise programs, participants reported a higher level of satisfaction and enjoyment when the sessions were held outside. These positive effects can be supported by several other studies that demonstrate the restoration from mental fatigue and stress due to nature’s influence. Overall, these participants experienced a revitalization resulting in higher self-esteem, engagement, vitality, enjoyment, and adherence. Scientifically, nature has been proven to positively influence the cognitive functions of various individuals. Researchers Hartig, Morg, and Evans found within a group of students that, depending on their choice of place for vacation, the environment proved to have impact on their proofreading performance. They compared a group of students who participated within a backpacking trip to a group of students who remained in urban areas for vacations, and found that the individuals that backpacked for that short period of time actually experienced higher levels of improvement in their proofreading performance. There are various more studies that further support the theory that utilizing nature as an instructional environment provides more meaningful learning. A study within Sweden showed that children who experienced the outdoors during day care displayed greater motor coordination and better attentional

These kind of negative consequences can lead to positive pro-environmental behavior in regards to raising gas prices, building alternate routes around town, keeping sidewalks clean for individuals to walk on, and putting in bike lanes. By raising gas prices individuals do not travel as much so less traffic congestion and pollution, adding alternate routes around the town can help break up the flow of traffic, and adding bicycle lanes, and keeping sidewalks clean will help encourage individuals who live in town to ride bicycles, and walk. Positive consequences of traffic is that it encourages motorist to re-time their road trip to when the traffic is not as congested, and also by reducing speeds can cause less road accidents.