Nonprofit group brings youths in touch with nature





FOLLOW THE LEADER—Children tackle a hill on a guided nature trail.

FOLLOW THE LEADER—Children tackle a hill on a guided nature trail.

If you grew up several decades ago, it is likely that you can recall your weekends or after-school hours spent playing outdoors. Your parents left it up to you to entertain yourself, whether playing hockey in the street with neighborhood kids or climbing trees with your brother or sister in the woods behind your house.

For most of us, those times spent outdoors are fond memories. However, many of us do not expect or encourage our own children to engage in the same activities we once did.

It is no secret that the children of today spend a great deal of time indoors. Electronic immersion, indoor confinement and structured activities have become a social norm.

Children are expected to spend several hours inside the classroom, complete their homework and enjoy their leisure time watching television, playing video games or participating in organized sports. What is more surprising, however, is the degree of disparity in time spent in nature between generations.

Several recent studies point out the decline in time spent in nature and in unstructured outdoor play by today’s children.

A study conducted by the UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families found that American children spend almost no time in their own yards. Visits to national parks have decreased by more than 20 percent since 1988, according to a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A University of Maryland study found a 50 percent decline from 1997 to 2003 in the proportion of children ages 9 to 12 who spent time in outdoor activities, including hiking, walking, gardening, fishing and playing at the beach.

American children spend on average seven hours and 38 minutes a day with electronic media, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

We have become a sedentary society, and this is perpetuated by the habits that have been instilled in our children.

That is not to say that noth- ing is being done to combat the trend. The ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle, including obesity and various other health problems, have been increasingly publicized and brought to our attention. A large proportion of American parents are wary of the risks of the couch potato lifestyle and sign their children up for sports teams, dance classes and other organized physical activities.

If we have participation in athletics to combat increasing childhood obesity, why do we need play in nature?

There is growing evidence that children, as well as adults, need contact with nature to promote and maintain their mental and physical health.

The term “nature-deficit disorder,” coined by Richard Louv, author of the best-seller “Last Child in the Woods,” attributes a host of problems, including the rise in obesity, attention deficit disorder and depression in children, to a lack of time spent in nature.

Several scientists believe humans have an innate affinity for the natural world and a need to connect with it. When this need is not met, many psychological and physical problems can arise.

Louv believes that daily electronic immersion, without anything to balance it, can impair a person’s ability to think clearly, pay attention, and be productive and creative.

Throughout the past decade, scientists have studied the im- pact of nature on child development. Findings point to several benefits of spending time in nature, including a reduction in ADD symptoms, improved well-being, therapeutic effects and improved academic performance.

Despite this evidence, modern society continues to make it difficult for children to spend sufficient time in nature. Parents’ busy schedules, increasing transportation costs and the need to save money often cause families to renounce outdoor excursions.

Schools, facing pressure to achieve high standardized test scores, spend more time focusing on math and reading, and forgo outdoor education.

School administrators in some states report that field trips are virtually fading away. When asked about the reasons for this, administrators listed lack of funding, high fuel costs, a hesitation to take large groups of children into public places and the pressure to achieve high scores on standardized tests. They felt that time could be used more wisely inside the classroom than out.

Ironically, findings from a report by the National Wildlife Federation have illustrated how time spent outdoors, both at home and at school, help children achieve higher test scores.

With the current state of the economy, many schools have put outdoor education on the back burner. Fortunately, extracurricular organizations often supplement outdoor and environmental education in schools.

Havasi Wilderness Foundation has helped to fund the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains’ education program for the past three years.

The program, led by environmental educators, brings school groups to Topanga State Park and Topanga Beach, where children participate in activities focusing on the environment, local wildlife and the history of the Chumash people.

In 2010 the foundation funded an EARTHS Magnet School field trip to Leo Carrillo State Beach. In 2009, its first active year, the foundation funded a program allowing students in Northern California to visit Fort Ross State Historic Park and helped to fund the National Association for Interpretation’s educational summer camp program.

To learn more about the Havasi Wilderness Foundation, visit www.havasiwf.org; if you have any questions, email wildlife@havasiwf.org.

Madison Most works with the Agoura Hills-based Havasi Wilderness Foundation. Visit www.havasiwf.org. This article is reprinted from the organization’s website with permission.


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