Part Three: The Best of Intentions: Why Johnny and Jeannie Don't Play Outside Anymore

9) Time and Fear

When it comes to getting out into nature, lack of time and growing fear, are the two main factors that prevent many from doing so. Some hurdles that need to be crossed are cultural and institutional concerns, structural boundaries, and personal/familial fears. There seems to be a growing trend that funds parks – but the parks are built with commercialized play space: basketball courts and soccer fields instead of natural play areas. Louv argues that a connection can be seen between the rise of organized sports and obesity; however he does not directly link them together.
Intentionally going into nature takes time and the time has to be unstructured. Kids’ lives today are scheduled and they also live in an electronic world. Both these factors contribute to them getting less time outside, playing. Also, parents see nature time as unconstructive, when in fact experiencing nature can be extremely beneficial to them.

10) The Bogeyman Syndrome Redux

Parents have developed a fear of nature that prevents them from letting their children play freely outside. In fact, an indoor childhood may lead to problems in physical and psychological health, among other things. Americans have come to view the “woods” as a place that harbors dangerous animals and people, rather than a beautiful place to imagine and learn. The media and movies contribute to this fear, when in fact rates of violence against youth have dropped since 1975. Also, the indoors are not as safe as many think. Indoor air pollution is a serious problem and poisonous critters can get indoors too.

11) Don’t know much about Natural History: Education as a Barrier to Nature

There is much emphasis about the environment in the curriculum today, however the way that children are learning about the environment may be detrimental to their views on it. There is no hands-on experience and there seems to be a larger disconnect between children and nature which can be attributed to the increase of technology. Because children aren’t valuing nature as much, they have lost respect for it. Their ideas of outdoor fun most often include activities that are harmful to nature, such as ATVing. Louv argues that there needs to be a high demand and focus on natural history and microbiology classes.

12) Where Will Future Stewards Come From?

As less and less people go out into nature, less and less people visit parks and enjoy the outdoors. Environmentalists are becoming a rare breed. Environmentalists seem to fall in love with nature because of their experiences as a child, being able to freely play in nature. Since most children today are lacking those experiences, less people seem to care as much about the environment. Louv calls for an attachment between children and land to be developed and valued because it is good for both the child and the land.

(Emma)