Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Defecit Disorder
By Richard Louv
Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
(2008, 390 pages, $14.95 Softcover)
Reviewed by Alissa Johnson
Kids These Days.
Generations of adults who grew up traipsing through national parks and idolizing Smoky the Bear sometimes wonder about these kids called millenials, the ones who only know the world after the Internet. Plugged into iPods, laptops and cell phones, hanging out inside. Can’t they just go out and play?
At some point, every generation shakes its head at the kids who follow, but this reproach hits upon a vital concern explored in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Journalist Richard Louv delves into a startling observation: today’s kids do not connect with the outdoors or nature because societal changes have taken away the opportunity to do so. National park and wilderness lovers take heed; the implications are significant for child development, but they are also crucial for the long-term protection of natural places.
Having devoted his writing career to exploring nature and family, Louv weaves personal knowledge from hundreds of interviews and community conversations with an array of intriguing studies to demonstrate that kids are indeed spending less time in nature, whether close to home or traveling to places like national parks: increasingly structured schedules leave little time for unstructured outdoor play; fear of injury, abduction and wild animals motivates parents to keep kids at home; and urban developments often prevent kids from playing outdoors like the generations before them did. Louv holds up Scripps Ranch, a San Diego community, as only one example of a place where child-friendly neighborhoods have been replaced by concern over “illegal use” of open space; where kids were once welcome to build forts, run through the trees and fish in the local pond, these activities became prohibited by the neighborhood association. This loss of exposure to the outdoors has some far-reaching consequences.
Louv cites study after study to show that play in a natural environment stimulates creativity and changes the way kids see the world and each other. One study demonstrated that kids who play in natural spaces exhibit a greater sense of wonder. Another discovered that kids who play outside on manmade structures establish a social hierarchy based on physical dominance whereas during play in natural settings, “Children used more fantasy play, and their social standing became based less on physical abilities and more on language skills, creativity and inventiveness. In other words, the more creative children emerged as leaders in natural play areas.” A Denmark study compared children in a traditional kindergarten with children in an outdoor kindergarten program and found that “children in the nature kindergarten were found to be more alert, better at using their bodies, and significantly more likely to create their own games.” Time in nature has even been suggested as an effective way to reduce the symptoms of ADHD, with studies indicating that nature has a calming influence and increases kids’ abilities to concentrate. Getting overwhelmed? This is only the start in this information-packed book.
At break-neck pace, Louv calls attention to what he has coined “nature-deficit disorder.” Not intended as a medical term, Louv wisely recognized that problems with names get more attention. Once defined, he runs from topic to topic, as if his sense of urgency is pushing him along to share every aspect of this theory: detailing evidence of nature deficit, outlining the importance of nature to an individual’s and society’s development, ascertaining why it is happening, extolling the virtues or reuniting children with nature, and most importantly, tackling how to bring about that reunion. It’s at times a dizzying amount of information; though it clips along in a conversational and accessible tone, it’s enough to leave a reader thinking, “Wait, I need to read that again.” Do. Each chapter is jam-packed, and the consequences of nature deficit reach are not just important to parents and educators. Anyone who hopes to see a continued love of wild places and national parks has a stake in understanding this phenomenon; childhood experience in nature is a key ingredient in the development of environmental stewards.
According to Louv, this link was first discovered by Thomas Tanner in 1978, but a slew of studies have confirmed that nature experiences do more than grow environmentalists; they grow adults who care for and show concern for the environment at all. A 2006 Cornell study of urban adults found that experiencing “wild nature activities,” like fishing or hiking, before the age of eleven was a key factor in how adults view the environment. If kids today aren’t getting these moments in nature, a very real concern develops: who will be tomorrow’s stewards of natural places? It’s a crucial question; national parks across the nation are facing declining visitors, and Voyageurs National Park Superintendent Mike Ward readily acknowledges that one of the biggest challenges facing Minnesota’s only national park is staying relevant. He draws connections between the decline of youth interest in the outdoors with the future health of the park itself, and the park is in the process of implementing a youth outreach program.
Luckily, Voyageurs National Park isn’t alone in noticing the trend or working to change it. Since the original publication of Last Child in the Woods in 2003, a wealth of community and state-wide efforts have been undertaken to correct nature deficit. Over forty regional “leave no child inside” campaigns have started, and the state of Washington passed a Leave No Child Inside initiative, devoting $1.5 million a year to connecting underserved kids with nature. And the book itself has been expanded to chronicle the growing movement as well as include a growing body of research that support the crucial role of nature. The 2008 version includes a field guide with a progress report, recommended reading for families and kids and specific actions we can all take to create change. It has become a hopeful final chapter that national park and nature lovers everywhere should read; the health of our children and nature depends upon it.
Find Last Child in the Woods at Amazon >
Update
Children & Nature Network, co-founded by Richard Louv, has helped launch a new campaign to get families back outside: Nature Rocks.
This article appeared in Wilderness News Spring 2009