Education News
Research & Studies
Buffalo News – June 27, 2008
Decline in School Recess Continues
By Mark Sommer
Despite research showing that unstructured play is important to healthy childhood development, the amount of time that schools allow for recess continues to decline. One reason for the decline is the increased emphasis on standardized testing. Other factors include limited budgets for safe playground equipment, concerns about lawsuits from playground injuries, and fears of bullying.
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National
New York Times – May 12, 2008
Why Are Schools Designed Like Prisons?
By Allison Arieff
In an opinion piece for the New York Times website, writer and editor Allison Arieff laments the way that school design tends to inhibit outdoor activity as children get older. “What if we looked beyond the notion of schools as institutions,” she writes, “and thought about them more as laboratories for creativity, exploration, and innovation?”
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Commentary
Toronto Star – January 19, 2008
Island School Impresses Noted Wildlife Artist
By Robert Bateman
Renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman writes in the Toronto Star of his visit to the Island School in the Bahamas, where American high-school students spend a semester without junk food, Internet access, or cell phones. Each day starts with a swim and a run, and students camp, kayak, and take part in marine research.
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Local | Access
KQED Radio – November 20, 2007
KQED Radio Features a Local Cure for Nature-Deficit Disorder
By Gabriella Quiros
A new program in San Francisco is introducing the city’s low-income youth to the pleasures of camping outdoors—without leaving the city itself. Developed by a collection of nonprofits, Camping at the Presidio aims to overcome the barriers that traditionally keep urban youth from visiting national parks: costs and a lack of exposure to camping. Eligible groups sleep overnight in a grove of eucalyptus trees, right within the city limits.
Quest is a TV, radio, Web, and education series by KQED that explores science, the environment, and nature in Northern California.
National | Legislation/Policy
The San Francisco Examiner – July 17, 2007
U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes proposes bill to integrate environmental education into NCLB
By Carolyn Peirce
Building Bridges to the Outdoors will be holding its second year of weeklong Environmental Leadership trainings this week in conjunction with the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC). The leadership training program introduces, inspires and educates youth, especially under-represented minorities, about the significant and contemporary environmental issues facing their local communities.
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Commentary | Review
The World Future Society ranks nature-deficit disorder #5
Children today are spending less time in direct contact with nature than did previous generations. The impacts are showing up not only in their lack of physical fitness, but also in the growing prevalence of hyperactivity and attention deficit.
Allies | Campaign/Initiative
The Learning Community – September 26, 2008
Student Letter Leads to $110,000 Grant from Lowe’s
A letter last year from a fourth-grader at a public charter school in Rhode Island inspired executives at Lowe’s to award the school a $110,000 grant to build a new playground. The student, Bernardo Garcia, wrote hoping the company would donate grass to turn a parking lot into a soccer field. Instead, his letter has resulted in a custom-designed playground that combines traditional climbing equipment and natural environments.
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National | Legislation/Policy
Sierra Club – September 18, 2008
House Approves No Child Left Inside Act
The US House of Representatives passed the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 on September 18. If signed into law, the act would support local and statewide efforts to expand and improve environmental education for public schools. The Sierra Club, among others, hailed the vote, saying that the act “provides a solution for reversing the trends of childhood obesity and ‘nature-deficit disorder’ that are afflicting a generation.” [+]
State
(New Jersey) Daily Record – September 01, 2008
New Jersey Parks Commission Reaches Out to Infants
By Meghan Van Dyk
Proving that it’s never too early to start introducing children to nature, the Morris County Parks Commission hosts weekly Baby and Me hikes through different New Jersey parks. Other popular commission programs include the Nature’s Little Explorers series for children two to three years old and Woodland Adventures for children four to six.
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State | Built Environment
(Greensboro) News & Record – August 23, 2008
North Carolina Zoo to Build Outdoor Classroom
By Jeri Rowe
The North Carolina Zoo will soon begin raising $2.8 million to help create a four-acre classroom for kids, complete with caves, gardens, and a stream. And in another example of North Carolinian efforts to reconnect kids with nature, every family with a child attending Greensboro Montessori School is being given a copy of Last Child in the Woods.
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International
Ross-shire Journal – June 05, 2008
Free Play Gets a Boost in Scotland
Advocates for unstructured play are celebrating the opening of a new play area in the Scottish Highlands. Funded in part by the local government, the play area, which is part of a primary school, was designed to encourage children to use their imaginations. In addition to a set of extra-large dominoes, an obstacle course that children can build themselves, and a special area for water play, there is a quiet area where children can sit on oversized outdoor cushions surrounded by flower and vegetable tubs. [+]
State
Sacramento Bee – May 28, 2008
Virtual Field Trips Take Hold in California
By Laurel Rosenhall
In California schools, the traditional field trip to a state park or other destination so that children can learn firsthand about the natural world is being replaced by the virtual field trip, which uses videoconferencing to beam nature lessons into the classroom. These virtual experiences, supporters say, are better than the alternative: no field trips at all.
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C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
