Eating is an agricultural act - Wendell Berry

Monday, December 29, 2008

nature deficit disorder

richard louv coined this beautiful term - nature deficit disorder from his book 'Last Child in the Woods'- which talks about the increasing disconnect between children and nature that today's society has enforced.
the potential depradations of this disconnect should be obvious even to the casual observer.

in this delightful interview (part 1 and part 2), he comes up with some superb snatches:
Pediatricians will tell you they're not treating very many broken bones in kids anymore. What they are seeing now are repetitive-stress injuries in children, which generally last a lot longer, sometimes permanently, compared to most broken bones.
It's the litigiousness of the society that's probably the reason schools put up "no running" signs on the playground.
I know I'm out on a limb on that -- but that's where the best fruit is.
If we were really interested in education reform we'd have a "No Child Left Inside" movement.
We're in danger of having a whole generation disassociate from nature. Not only because they didn't go outside as kids, but because of the message being sent, often unintentionally, by environmental organizations and by the news media: When it comes to the environment, it's too late. Game's over.

2 comments:

Airspy said...

Thats a wonderful term. When I was in class eight(1988?) i remember reading an article which claimed a lot of Japanese kids had never seen a real cow. I was very amused to say the least, and of course had allusions of imagined prospertity of the developed nations etc. Twenty years on, my kids these days dont get to see the measley Crow and Sparrow, thanks to (IMO) the profilierating cell phone towers and such urbanities.

I try to make children get out of airconditioned cars and use the bus (preferable a non-volvo) to taste life in all its variety.

csm said...

yes indeed airspy.
travel by ST buses are also a welcome relief.
children are much hardier than we think and the more we cocoon them, the weaker they become...