Natural Childhood... reconnecting children with nature

[Mesquite]

I saw this clip on Youtube and then went in search of the report... makes for some interesting if somewhat sad reading

[video=youtube;SWE6EOmXLZM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWE6EOmXLZM&feature=pl ayer_embedded?campid=facebook[/video]

And here's the link to the report

 

[Retired Member southey]

Sorry stopped listening at nature deficit disorder

 

[Mesquite]

Sorry stopped listening at nature deficit disorder

Go beyond that Southey... I know terms like that are a bit grating but it's something I see with the younger people I deal with... put them in something as basic as an allotment and they're horrified at the mere sight of a toad or slowworm and as for growing your own food...

At least your kids won't have any worry about getting out into the countryside

 

[boatman]

One has to ask what the problems are that officials have rather than any that children might have. See the examples of "criminal" children building a sort of treehouse in a cherry tree and a Grandmother and grandson building a den in a wood in the report. I actually referred the cherry tree incident to Liberty and didn't even get a reply. Virtually all children want more freedom and it would seem commonsense that if the Police concentrated on real criminals, of any age, then the urban as well as the country environment would be "safer" for children to roam at will.

We can't be indifferent to restrictions on children in the Natural World because perceived limitations on them become limitations on grown-ups very easily as well as stunting the next generation.

 

[calibanzwei]

My other half has raised her kids with a hands on approach with nature - nothing in the garden is safe lol; frogs, spiders, insects - they all get handled.

 

[oldtimer]

At first sight a sad story, but one should not be overly pessimistic. I spent my working life working with and for children of Primary School age and took every opportunity to redress the balance. Yes, children in urban environments are restricted, but they always were. Look at the reasons for the founding of organisations like the Scouts and the Woodcraft folk. The modern problems are more apparent because more children live in cities and have access to electronic amusement. I wonder, however, if they spend any more time than I did at their age indoors reading or playing with other games.

I realise that I was privileged as a child, being brought up on the edge of Portsmouth, with ready access to Farlington mashes unsupervised and uncontrolled. With my bike I could easily get to woodland. Much of my childhood natural world is now industrial estate and housing.
I was taken camping at a time when few people did so and campsites were just a field on a farm and had the opportunity to experience various natural environments often alone and unsupervised (and my father was Director of Social Services!). Most campsites now seem to be over controlled, usually to protect the owners from being sued over health and safety.

But I remain optimistic. People do write reports like this and do do something about the issues. This website exists, is alive and well and frequently has reports from members about how they are introducing the next generations to the natural world. It seems to me that we have a duty to spread the word in any way we can and set and example to all generation, including our own.

Sorry Southey, I think you are the wrong track here. Keep reading - you won't learn much that will be new to you, but why not help by translating some of the admittedly awful jargon in the report into plain English to those who are put off by it.

 

[Retired Member southey]

I just can't get past the mental image of some Chelsea parent saying "its not johnny's fault, he suffers from ndd, he didnknow a ducks couldn't be put back on like his sisters Barbie" . Silly I know but there it is, something that always confused me, I was assesd as being dyslexic when in the third year of senior school and subsequently moved from the top set to the bottom, this then limited my GCSE grades to the core syllabus and only able to get a c grade in any exam, but it also Ment I could become part of the "learning needs group" which spent a vast amount of time rennovating,planting and working the schools greenhouses and garden, do you think that the feel of a need to attain a high accademic grade pushes people to forget the great out doors and concentraight on indoor type study continuinng untill the end of their possible further education, this then adding to their loss of connection with the patch of grass out the window? Also I have a strong belif that any one who uses a book to raise their child will ruin the child.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Ha! Sorry will tidy up that post when I get to a laptop.

 

[chris_irwin]

I agree with the sentiment of the video, but as others have suggested, I don't agree with it being labelled as a disorder. More a lack of education and experience...

I just can't comprehend any parent who doesn't wish to allow their kids to go outside/ take them for walks or whatever. Nor can I comprehend my life without some form of outside activity, it would drive me mad.

I do wonder how people can be so very different from me at times...

 

[sandbender]

'Nature deficit disorder'. That made me wince too, is he trying to get some funding? Isn't this what the Scouting movement is for?

I met a chap who spent his summers shepherding English school children down the Ardeche Gorge, it seemed like an ideal job. He told me some quite scary stories about just how alien the natural world was to these kids. They were scared of the white fluffy cattail seeds floating in the air, they wondered if they would sting, they were in awe that they could see the bottom of a river (a 2 meter deep one) and amazed that there were fishes swimming beneath their canoes.

Kids do need to get out and about and hopefully not just to drink cheap beer and wine around a fire.

If the Scouting movement isn't delivering or kids don't want to join, maybe this man should try next.

I have a cousin in Transylvania who lives in a remote part of a national park, he and his family run summer camps for children, he calls them 're-wilding camps', the children certainly seem to enjoy themselves.

 

[yomperalex]

Sorry stopped listening at nature deficit disorder

I work in an SEN school with some really difficult lads, and we get a lot of labels coming our way - these can be of some use, but unless dealt with outside of a holistic approach they can be merely a label and actually something of a hindrance.

While I feel that a disconnection with nature is a common element of a lot of problems today, I feel that it is only one facet of a much more complex picture.

My gut instinct is that this label could be non productive, now I'll have to go and read the article.

Alex

 

[Harvestman]

I remember taking some children from urban Birmingham on a walk as part of a primary school trip. We crossed the first stile and one child just froze, like he'd seen a lion. When asked what was wrong, he said
"I'm in a field. I've never been in a field before"

Once these children overcame their initial shock (and it was shock - being presented with a totally alien environment to what they were used to) a good time was had, and everyone wanted to come back and do it again.

 

[The Ratcatcher]

The worst thing that has happened to discourage a "natural childhood" since my misspent youth is the amount of legislation about the environment and children. Most of the things my mates and I got up to would be illegal nowadays, and there are so many intefering busybodies who call themselves "Wardens" or "Rangers" or some other pompous title, who's sole interest seems to prevent anybody (especially kids) enjoying the countryside.

The area where we used to play, climb trees, build dens and camp out is now a country park, and all of the above activities are now banned (including playing outside of the officially designated "play areas"). The official excuses for this attitude are that these activities are damaging to the environment or are dangerous.

I have two sons, one 11 and the other 6, who both like being outdoors, but I can't let them loose like I was, not because of traffic or "stranger danger", but because there is nowhere that they can be let loose without one or more of the above-mentioned pompous idiots taking an interest, and then involving more of their kind in the way I choose to bring up my kids. I even had a (friendly) warning from a member of staff at their school that if I took them for a month-long camping trip during the school holidays that the local Social Services would be on my back on the grounds that I was failing to provide suitable accomodation i.e. no running water, bath/shower, etc.

Annoyingly, considering the report was produced by the National Trust, some of their staff are the worst offenders when it comes to the "look but don't touch" attitude to the countryside.

RANT OVER!

Alan