Richard Louv is encouraging parents to get back to nature. And to take their kids with them.
The author, who is also chairman of the Children & Nature Network, will be discussing his eighth book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder,” at Centennial High School Wednesday.
Louv?s book is about the disconnect between children and the natural world. It touches on the emerging body of evidence showing experience in nature as very important to healthy child development and teaches parents to re-engage future generations with nature.
“I believe the last three decades were the crucial time when this disconnection happened,” Louv said. “Electronics like video games and television are very seductive to busy parents.”
The author said he believes the underlying issue is fear.
“Parents feel an extraordinary amount of fear, primarily about stranger danger,” Louv said. “We are being conditioned to live in a state of fear. It?s our passion. All you have to do is watch CNN or Fox News, which take handfuls of tragedies about children and show them over and over again, until we believe there?s a kidnapper on every corner.”
“Last Child in the Woods” also addresses issues such as child obesity and attention-deficit disorder. “The symptoms of ADD have been proven to get better with even a little contact with nature,” Louv said. “Schools that have outdoor classrooms have students that have done 27 percent better on science testing. Yet, experiential learning has been left out in the ?Leave No Child Behind? approach.”
“All the adults you talk to about this distinctly remember hearing their parents say ?just go outside and play,? ” said Meg Schumacher, executive director of the Howard County Conservancy, the event?s sponser. “Now, we?ve moved to being so protective [of children] that it makes it less conducive to let them play outside.”
“We?ll have some take-home materials for parents, really a self-directed sort of guide on how to get children outside,” Schumacher said. “Sometimes, parents are a little lost as well. We have a guide to help parents overcome any fears or worries they have in exploring nature.”
After reading Louv?s book, Schumacher realized that she may had been sheltering her children. “We live in the woods, there are no big roads near our house, and I had always told them to stay where I could see them,” Schumacher said. “After I read the book, I said, go ahead and play. It?s interesting to see what kids do as soon as they are allowed the freedom to explore [nature].”
“I?m not pretending that the 1950s are going to come back any time soon ? it won?t be a case of telling your child to go out and come back when the street lights come on,” Louv said. “We need parents and other positive adults to take the children to nature and encourage the behavior by going with them.”
IF YOU GO
Richard Louv signs and discusses “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder”
» Where: Centennial High School
4300 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City
» When: 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday
» Cost: $5 to $10
» More info: www.hcconservancy.org or 410-465-8877
