Nature Deficit Disorder: A Warning Sign
Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods is a book about Nature Deficiency Disorder, a term that is not yet available to be a medically diagnosed thing, but it should be. Nature Deficiency is a term that Louv uses to describe what is going on today in society. The separation of humans with nature, the neglect humans give to nature, how adults separation from nature is affecting kids, how corporations and government are part of who to blame for the separation, and how schools are included in the blame for separation of nature (CH 8). What I appreciate most is his inclusion of options for how to solve nature deficiency disorder. The conclusions in Last Child in the Woods are not only valid but they need to be taken more seriously because of the looming climate crisis.
The separation of humans with nature is something that has been evolving for a long time. Human beings came to be, because of primates leaving their habitat and becoming bipedal. Our human evolution timeline shows how little by little we have left nature. We became hunters, we created homes, and this evolved further when we became more and more civilized. We no longer have to go out and hunt in order to eat, now we don’t even have to leave the house to get food. We can order Postmates or one of the other food delivery apps and have our food delivered. As we evolved our interaction with the outdoors has become slimmer and slimmer. Our jobs are indoors. Our schools are indoors. Our life is indoors. The lack of our time outside has made us not only made us forget where we come from but also neglect it. “There is something wrong with a society that spends so much money, as well as countless human effort — to make the least dregs of processed information available to everyone everywhere and yet does little or nothing to help us explore the world for ourselves.” Late Edward Reed, an associate professor of psychology at Franklin and Marshall College on the myth of the information age. Not only that but as the author explains, humans have a know-it-all mentality about nature. So much is going into technology, we are on this road to becoming so advanced that we are neglecting nature and everything we need to survive. We don’t need to go outside and study why something in nature does what it does, we can look it up saving time and energy. Global Warming is a real threat to society and our noninvolvement in nature is making us blind to this because were not directly affected yet or directly involved in nature to see the differences.
The separation between adults and nature doesn’t just affect themselves; it affects their children too, if they’re parents. Parents become so busy with routine that they forget that time in nature is essential. They have overscheduled days not just for themselves but also their child(ren). Work, school, and afterschool activities are taking over and we are not prioritizing time for our children to figuratively, get lost in nature. If it’s not overscheduling, then it is under scheduling and letting children get lost in technology instead. There is a rise in children’s use of technology and a decline of children’s time in nature. A report from Common Sense Media says that “42 percent of children now have their own tablet device — up from 7 percent four years ago (2014) and less than 1 percent in 2011)”. Screen time by kids has raised from 4% to 35 % coming from mobile devices. In the book this is mentioned. “Television remains the most effective thief of time.” It is then mentioned that one-third of children from six months to six years of age lived in households that had the TV on all or most of the time. “The study also found that about a quarter of the time, young people were using more than one medium simultaneously, leading the researchers to dub todays’ young as Generation M — for multitasking.” It also says that children between the ages of 8 and 18 spent an average of 6.5 hours using electronics, more than an adult’s work week. So much time indoors affects children they become lazy and bored. Even if kids wanted to spend time outside though, there is so much regulation that they don’t want to deal with.
Over regulation by organizations, private and public government makes children not want to go outside. Criminalization of Natural Play is what Louv calls it. Everything is being regulated most of it within reason. Some children and teens live in communities with private government. These associations create laws not only to protect the children but also the association against liability. In the book we given the example of a community called Scripps Ranch. In this community there is an association that governs the community. The kids in the community would want to build tree houses and they would be stopped by the association because its dangerous. But not just that. Even tree houses that weren’t built by the kids were being told to be taken down. The scouting organizations have the same problem with liability. Liability insurances have gone up so high. Luov shows an example of this by telling us of a report by Australian scouting organizations claiming their insurance went up “as much as 500 percent in a single year” The scouting organizations go through so much scrutiny that even their fishing merit badge was threatened to be canceled by PETA. With children and organizations being scrutinized it’s no wonder that kids give up the outdoors and stay inside with their electronics.
Schools are also being regulated by government. In an article named The Death of Recess in America, it states that “we are in the grips of a terrible ADHD epidemic.” Schools are focusing on learning in class and using technology. “Common Core testing has proven itself the enemy of all things creative. Art, music, and physical education have become dispensable” This is a big problem because for some kids the only time they have outdoors is during school. Some because they live in dangerous neighborhoods where outside isn’t safe and others because after school they go to indoor after school programs like day cares. “According to FairTest.org, schools throughout the nation have given recess the boot in order to counteract poor test scores. Places like the Bain School of Arts and Language in Kenosha, Wisconsin and the Clark County School District in Nevada have done away with recess so as to better focus on ‘core academic areas.’” The article also goes on to say that schools in Gadsden City, Alabama decided to focus on additional test preparation and take away kindergarten nap time. Schools should not take away recess but add more time with nature learning physically. This in turn is going to make very stressed children and threaten the mental health of children and teens.
The article “Climate change poses mental health risks to children and teens” provides a way for children and teens to relieve negative emotions about climate change. The article says that the way for them relieve the emotions is by activism. This is also mentioned in the book. Both the article and the book mention how children and teens are getting anxiety and depression. Both say the answer is to get outdoors. From the article, “Susie Burke is a psychologist in Melbourne, Australia. She’s also Milou’s mom. Burke urges students to get out in nature. That can help restore a calm mood. It also can improve someone’s ability to focus on things, she says.” Schools teaching children things they cannot fully comprehend is making them have a fear of catastrophe. “Too many kids are associating nature with fear and catastrophe, and not having direct contact with the outdoors”.
This book is not only awareness but also solutions. What the author is saying in this book is yes, this is the problem, but it is not a problem that is unfixable. Nature Deficit Disorder is not only the problem but also the solution. We need to let children outside not because it can be fun but because it is beneficial for them. Many illnesses, mentally and physically can be if not solved, helped drastically. Children with Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and obesity can all be helped with just spending time outdoors. This book also subtly let us know that us adults need to spend more time outdoors with our children. Just like children adults can also benefit from time in nature. There is not only a rise in kids having mental health problems but also adults. A way that he says we can do this is by adding both nature with time spent with our children. Personally, some of my fondest memories are of the times I would go camping with my family in Sequoia National Park. I would go with my cousins and we would go on adventures hiking. All children should be able to have these types of memories in the outdoors. Finding a new love in nature ourselves can help our children find a love of nature.
