This week I finished Last Child in the Woods. I covered part VI, Wonderland: Opening the Fourth Frontier and part VII, To Be Amazed. These two parts went from page 233 to page 309. Some of the main topics covered were:- Decriminalizing Natural Play
- Fear of liability
- Green Urbanism
- Chicago-A green city
- Faith-based Environmentalism
There were many significant points talked about in the remaining pages of the book. Decriminalization of natural play is when areas are taken away from kids because of fear of destruction. Many places are becoming off limits because they do not want the nature to be disturbed due to people climbing or walking on it. I agree and disagree with this. I understand we want to preserve the nature we have but nature is meant to be used. There should be off limit signs to some of the more delicate areas of nature but people should be allowed to experience some forms of nature.
Fear of liability has become a major issue in the United States. Many people are afraid of letting others use their things or be on their property for fear of being sued. As mentioned in the book most people call attorneys now when things happen instead of trying to work it out (Louv, 237). I find it pretty sad when you cannot trust some family members or friends for fear of being sued if something by chance happened.
Green urbanism is trying to make its way to the United States. Right now this is very big in European countries and it actually works. It is amazing how well countries like Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden function with these environmentally friendly ideas. One of the major things these countries are doing is using "greenroofs." According to Louv, "greenroofs are covered by vegetation, grass, or trees-such roofs provide protection from UV rays, clean the air, control storm water runoff, aid birds and butterflies, and cool homes in the summer and heat in winter" (246). I cannot believe just having "greenroofs" could do so much for the environment
Chicago is one of the greenest states in the United States. After visiting there about seven years ago I would have never thought this. According to Louv, "Chicago has developed one of the best renewable energy rebate programs in the nation, built a mass transit system to avoid the overuse of cars, and made many bike paths" (253). I think it is great the city of Chicago is trying to become environmentally friendly and attempting to get others out in nature. If a big city can do this so can many other small cities or states.
Faith-based environmentalism has to with god and mother nature, the creators. This part of the book basically stated the difference between how different religions view nature. Some believe god made it and it should be used by everyone. Some religions view it as sacred and that it should be left alone or that it has evils lurking in it. Most people did however correlate nature and religion as a positive for people to use (Louv, 296).
A couple of words that were unfamiliar to me were:
According to Wikipedia Idolatry is, "usually defined as worship of any image, idea, or objects opposed to the worship of a monothesitic God" (Wikipedia, 2010).
According to Wikipedia Greenprinting, "relates to the conservation of land. Greenprinting is the creation of conservation scenarios that help communities make informed conservation decisions" (Wikipedia, 2010).
These decisions have a big impact on society. How we do things now affects the future generations of kids and their parents. Being one of the generations that has not got to experience nature like I should have I want to change that for when I have kids. I want everyone to feel comfortable with nature. Hopefully within the next few years schools, parks, colleges, forests, and etc will become more environmentally friendly and informative.
Overall, this entire book was about the affect nature has on everything in our society, especially children. Our views of nature are much different than they used to be. Kids used to play outside, build tree houses, play kickball in the street, and run through the forests playing games with their friends. In general kids just used their imagination a lot more than now. These days kids are addicted to electronics. Game companies keep coming out with new ideas for kids which only keeps them inside more. Not only did Last Child in the Woods want to talk about how we have lost our connection with society but ways to get it back. There are many things we can do to get back on track, it will just take some time and hard work but in the end it will be totally worth it. Lets use it before we lose it.
Three significant things I learned were:
- My generation is a part of this gap of society who has lost touch with nature.
- I learned a lot about the Bogeyman syndrome. I never knew this term existed but I definitely believe in it. I have let media influence me so much that I am very scared of nature. When I am outside I am very aware of my settings and never fully feel at ease.
- How calming nature actually is. I never realized how much nature can affect ones' life. The fact it can help lower the symptoms of ADHD and stress levels is so crucial to many childrens lives. Take part in nature because this is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to help clear your mind and feel better about yourself
This book means a lot to me because I am part of the percentage who has lost contact with nature along with most of my friends and family members. I love being in nature but I realize I do not use it as often as I wish I would. There were times growing up when we would travel to other states and I would sit in the car and watch DVD's instead of going out to see nature. This upsets me because why would I not have been more interested? After reading about how many of our nature areas are being destroyed or cut off from the public it makes me realize how much I have missed out on. I do not want my kids and the future generations to miss out like so many of us did. The last thing our next generations need are to be addicted to electronics like kids are now.
Yes, I would definitely recommend this book to others. Not only is it a current issue but it is so interesting. Many people within the last ten years would be apart of the gap that has been cut off with nature so they would be able to relate well. Older people would also be able to relate because I bet they question why kids these days do not do what they used to do. This book has many descriptive points about why this issue is so alarming and why things need to change. It really puts things into perspective and makes you want to make a change to better our environment.
Picture Source: (C) Michael "Mike" L. Baird bairdphotos.com; You are free to share-to copy, distribute, and transmit the work
