What I’m Reading: Last Child In The Woods
I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.
- A fourth-grader in San Diego
Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs, tadpoles, frogs and mud-turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to wade in, water-lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of his education.
- Luther Burbank
This past week, I finished Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. The premise of the book is that humans have an innate need for nature that is not being met due to poor urban planning, competing entertainment venues, fear of litigation, and parental fear of crazies.
The piece on parental fear really struck a chord with me as it’s a big reason I don’t watch the news. The news is intended to generate fear and stories of kidnappings and murders do just that. It’s not that the world is any more dangerous than it used to be (and studies in Britain have shown that there are no more abductions or murders of children than 25 years ago), it’s that it’s a more televised and aware world.
That doesn’t mean to throw caution to the wind, but it does mean to understand that the risks are low and you can probably send your child outside without a GPS-tracking device. There’s simply no need to be so scared that you require a 24×7 itinerary of where your child will be.
Early on, he describes The Third Frontier, a place characterized by:
- A severance of the public and private mind from our food’s origins
- A disappearing line between machines, humans, and other animals
- An increased intellectual understanding of our relationship with other animals
- The invasion of our cities by wild animals
- The rise of a new kind of suburban form
He further goes on to describe a model of multiple intelligences as described by Howard Gardner:
- Linguistic
- Logical-mathematical
- Spatial
- Bodily-kinesthetic
- Musical
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
- Naturalist
I really like this framework as it places all areas on even ground. To be a fully “intelligent” human being, one has to be rounded in all areas, but our detachment from nature prevents the development of the 8th “intelligence”. Schools not only aren’t setup to allow children to explore nature, few even allow recess anymore, devoting time to meeting the requirements of education.
Louv spends a good portion of the book discussing how nature therapy is being used for children with ADHD and shows lots of promise in helping them to overcome their inability to concentrate. For instance, studies show that a child with ADHD that spends time walking in nature sees better results than the same child walking in an urban environment. There’s something about the greenery and a return to nature that helps in calming the mind.
There’s also a section devoted to innovative school programs incorporating nature, both the building of gardens and the exploration of nearby creeks and forests. These programs have been shown to improve student performance, attendance, and participation. He then discusses how we can change our urban planning models to allow for both increased population density and acceptance of native creatures and plants. Cities around the world, and many in the United States, are starting to adopt “greener” measures to give the native flora and fauna places to grow, nest, and live.
My final rating is an 8.5. It was a very easy read, though a bit repetitive at times. Total page count is 310 and 15% of that could have probably been eliminated with no loss of message. I went through it pretty quickly, chewing through 2/3 of the book on a flight delay in Philadelphia and the subsequent flight. It’s just easily readable and enjoyable. Overall, I’d say it’s an important book for parents, anyone planning to be a parent, urban planners, and anyone interested in understanding the unbreakable connection of humans to nature. We may not live in the wild any longer, but we are still wild creatures at heart, in need of something green to look at.
5 Reader Comments
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I was just thinking the other day that I need to reread “The Last Kid in the Woods”. It’s an important book. Reflecting on my childhood (I grew up in the 50′s and 60′s), I was raised on a ranch, and had one in door toy: a doll. I kid you not! Was I neglected? No way. I had the outdoors. My grandma made us all “rock sacks” and I would hunt for rocks. We built forts in the trees, pretended we were being chased by Indians (not politically correct, I know), tried building rafts, which failed. My sister and I tried to build our own swimming pool. That also failed. Life was good. At recess at school we played tag, a banned game today in some parts. We bailed out of swings, we climbed on monkey bars till our blistered hands bled! It was heaven.
I hope that outdoor play and exploration will become a priority with today’s parents. It’s a big challenge given the age we live in, but If there’s a will there’s a way.
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The copy I ordered of this just came! It’s such an important topic. I work in the youth development field, which includes quality programs, activities, and less structured opportunities for children and youth outside of school. Getting outdoors is so important, and it’s getting brushed aside in the middle of a tidal wave sized trend of forcing everything outside of school to be academic.
Can’t wait to read it, and I’ll let you know what I think.
Debs
Food Is Love
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I’m almost finished with this book, and since I’ve been reading it I’ve been feeling really motivated to get my kids outside as much as possible. I wish I lived on a ranch or large piece of property, but I figure even in the suburbs we can get out to ride bikes, work in the garden, or go to the park or hiking. I’ve been thinking about being in nature as a part of our daily routine.
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Jessica, I recall spending a lot of my childhood outdoors too. We lived in the burbs, near no forests, but we were at least always out, riding bikes, playing basketball, or just sitting around chatting. I think it’s probably good for overall health to get outside as much as possible, preferably in a natural setting, but even just outside is a start.
Cheers
Scott
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I read this book this summer and thought of it today as I was posting about Will Allen and Growing Power and how important it is to have kids have a connection to nature and the outdoors. I let my 4 year old and our neighbors 7 year old grandkids (triplets) have a lot of free reign playing behind the garage, in the empty lot next to our house, in the field down the street (we can see it from our windows, and our tiny town is very safe and insulated, anyway). I take my girls to the forest preserves and we draw maps and have adventures outside all the time. With everyone “going green” I really hope that this message gets through to parents everywhere. It is so important for development that kids have unstructured play time, and time to connect and explore nature on their own terms, without it being just taught to them or preached to them. I loved this book, may purchase it for the other parents in my family for Christmas.
Oh, and one of my favorite things was the idea that it doesn’t have to be a forest preserve or ranch, it can be exploring an empty lot, the space between garages, anywhere outside and in the open space.
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