Commentary News
Health | Legislation/Policy
Wall Street Journal – August 13, 2008
WSJ: Why Safe Kids Are Becoming Fat Kids
By Philip K. Howard
The desire to insulate children from all forms of risk is having unintended consequences, writes attorney Philip Howard in the Wall Street Journal’s Commentary section. “The harmful effects of our national safety obsession ripple outward into society. One in six children in America is obese, and many of them will face a lifetime of chronic illness.”
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Health
Miami Herald – May 31, 2008
Miami Herald: The Changing Nature of Play
By Ana Veciana-Suarez
A sobering article in the Miami Herald looks at the reasons why fewer children today enjoy the kind of free play that was common even a generation ago. As a single mother who fears letting her daughters play outdoors unsupervised remarks in the article, “I think they’re missing out on the freedom to be a child, to do just what they want.”
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Media & Culture
The Christian Science Monitor – May 22, 2008
Free-range kids
By Gloria Goodale
Journalist Lenore Skenazy has sparked a dialogue that's touched a nerve in the national psyche. Are American parents raising children who are never allowed to take risks, or are they simply protecting them? For a complicated mix of reasons there is an urgent and growing desire among families to reassess their lifestyles and consider a more balanced form of parenting, one that allows for more independence and risk-taking.
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Media & Culture | Leadership
(Tacoma) News Tribune – March 13, 2008
Novel Ideas for Funding Nature Education
By Jeffrey P. Mayor
A conversation with Richard Louv prompted a Washington State journalist to consider new ways to fund nature education. One of methods proposed by columnist Jeffery P. Mayor is earmarking a portion of the fees generated by specialty license plates for a Washington Nature Education Fund. Another proposal would provide REI members with a simple way to donate all or some of their annual dividend checks to the education fund.
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Health
San Jose Mercury News – February 15, 2008
Silicon Valley, Turn Off Your Computers and Go Outside
By Vindu Goel
Faced with a proposal by Gov. Schwarzenegger to close 48 California state parks, a San Jose columnist encourages his fellow Silicon Valley constituents to make their presence felt by turning off their computers and venturing outdoors. “If we value our parks, we have to prove it to the politicians—and ourselves.”
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Health
National Public Radio – February 21, 2008
NPR: The Importance of Old-Fashioned Play
By Alix Spiegel
National Public Radio’s Alix Spiegel reports on how childhood recreation has changed over the past 50 years, from improvised play that often took place outdoors to structured play that often requires specific toys and follows a predetermined script. Spiegel also explores the many adverse effects these changes have had on children’s cognitive and emotional development.
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Education
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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Health
Green Living Online – January 15, 2008
Combatting Nature-Deficit Disorder in Winter
By Joyce Nelson
One reason children spend less time outdoors during the winter is the fear of catching cold and getting sick. As Green Living Online points out, however, it’s not necessarily winter weather that brings on the flu but time spent indoors without the benefit of fresh air. The website encourages parents to turn off the TV and take their children outside.
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Health
Deseret News – October 13, 2007
Today’s young people are wired and worried
By Joseph Cramer, M.D.
In today's childhood there is an overabundance of stimulation and a shortage of soothers. Meet Generation W — "w" for wired and worried. In this whirlwind of wires and wireless, author Joseph Cramer, M.D. offers four steps to wind down the worried.
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The Telegraph, UK – June 06, 2007
Let children learn by taking risks, says RoSPA
By Sarah Womack
"When children spend time in the great outdoors, getting muddy, getting wet, getting stung by nettles, they learn important lessons - what hurts, what is slippery, what you can trip over or fall from."
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Education | 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.
Leadership
Orion Online – March 01, 2007
Orion Magazine features the Children & Nature Movement
By Richard Louv
The movement to reconnect children to the natural world has arisen quickly, spontaneously, and across the usual social, political, and economic dividing lines. Read about this crucially important groundswell in the March-April 2007 issue of Orion. Then tell them what you think, and share what's happening in your school, neighborhood or town to get kids back to nature.
Health
Toronto Sun – July 13, 2008
Kids Should Be Free to Play, Author Says
By Marilyn Linton
The Toronto Sun talks with early-childhood expert Rae Pica about the importance of unstructured play in children’s lives. The author of A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity and Free Time Create a Successful Child, Pica urges adults to let children find their own unique ways to entertain themselves, even if that means occasionally being bored. “Heaven forbid they get to adulthood,” she says, “and not know how to be alone with themselves and their thoughts.”
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Access
USA Today – June 27, 2008
Author Advocates Free Play in USA Today
By Nanci Hellmich
Susan Linn, author of the book The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World, discusses the importance of unstructured play in a recent interview with USA Today. Beyond simply advising parents to make sure their children have play time away from the television and electronic toys, she specifically recommends taking kids outdoors. “Children actually play more creatively in nature,” she says.
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Packet Online – June 11, 2008
Book Chronicles Dad Connecting Kids with Nature
By Adam Grybowski
Rick Van Noy, an English professor and father, has written a book that chronicles his efforts to turn his children’s attention from their television and computer screens to the outdoors. A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature Through the Seasons focuses on Van Noy’s experience of bringing his children outdoors and allowing them to play without structure. In a series of essays organized mostly by season, he describes swimming, hiking, gardening, and fishing with his family.
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Media & Culture
QUEST series focuses on Nature Deficit Disorder
On May 12, San Francisco's KQED Public Television series QUEST aired this special report on why we need nature, and efforts to encourage children to play outdoors.
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Resource
Chronicle of Philanthropy – April 17, 2008
Chronicle of Philanthropy on Children and Nature
By Debra E. Blum
The children and nature movement is the focus of an article in the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, an important source of information for charity leaders, fund-raisers, and grant makers. The article, which spotlights a number of the local and national efforts to reconnect children with nature, also looks at the challenges faced by such groups to find financial support for their projects.
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Health
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 10, 2008
A Reminder of Summer Camp’s Value
By Lockie Hunter
With children spending more and more time in front of computers and TV screens, the value of summer camp is perhaps greater than ever before. In addition to the opportunity it provides for children to explore nature and learn outdoors skills, it also helps them develop social skills and gain a new sense of independence.
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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.
