Read'n'Seed 5: Fourth Quarter and Final Review of Last Child in the Woods.

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

Read'n'Seed 4: The Last Child in the Woods

For this week's Read'n'Seed, I read pages 132-222. These pages covered the last two sections of section III, section IV, and part of section V. This portion of the book covered many different, important topics. Some of the important topics were:

• Education, a barrier to nature
• Death of natural history
• Parks and historical sites
• Endangered environmentalists
• Attachment theory
• Boredom with nature

I learned many significant things. I want to start with education as a barrier to nature. School systems are focusing most of their time on math, language, and science instead of subjects like the arts. Also, like I discussed in last weeks Read'n'Seed many schools are trying to get rid of recess. Why would we try to permanently cut nature out of a child's life when it is already almost non-existent? Another topic was the death of natural history. This is a very scary topic. If kids stop learning about nature why would they care about it? According to Louv, most kids and their parents are able to name different types of ATV's but not animals or plants (140). When kids experience nature they relate it to riding ATV's or looking at sites through the car window.

Another interesting topic was the decline of visitation to state parks and historical sites. The number of people attending parks and historical sites is declining because of the fee of accessing the parks, kids are getting bored, and most importantly the declining relationship between the young and nature (Louv, 197). Attachment Theory was mentioned during the book. Attachment theory according to Louv is, "kids need an attachment to feel compelled to protect nature as an adult" (155). If you do not learn about something, how would you know or care about it.

The boredom with nature is kids are not finding it interesting. One of the most influential ways to get kids involved is to get the parents involved. Kids cherish the time they get to spend with their parents because of the time constraints that most families are under. Lets get kids to become NATURE SMART! Louv made a wonderful comment when he stated, "teach kids to pay attention, not to be careful" (178). The reason for this stems back to the bogeyman syndrome. Kids and their parents are so afraid of nature because of how media depicts it. It is important to be aware of crime or dangers but do not let it control your life.

A couple of terms I was unfamiliar with were:
Ecophobia: fear of ecological deterioration (Defined in the book, page 133)
According to Wikipedia, blasphemy is defined as an irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs (Wikipedia, 2010).


If I have not stressed it enough nature plays an important role in everyone's lives. Incorporating nature into your everyday life will only help you in almost every aspect of your life. Think of when you are outside just laying in the grass, playing in water, or making a snow angel, don't you feel at peace? I know I do. Going outside to take a walk helps me clear my head and bring my stress level down dramatically. Hopefully in given time schools and colleges will start incorporating more of a nature environment to get students involved.

Read'n'Seed: Second Quarter of "The Last Child in the Woods"

During my second Read'n'Seed I read pages 70 to 131. These pages contained the last three parts of section II (Why the Young, and the Rest of Us, Need Nature), titled the "Eighth Intelligence", The Genius of Childhood: How Natures Nurtures Creativity, and Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment and the first two parts of section III (The Best of Intention: Why Johnnie and Jeannie Don't Play Outside Anymore), titled Time and Fear and the Bogeyman Syndrome Redux.

There were many topics talked about during these pages. They were:

• Nature Smart: Paying Attention
• Learn from Nature
• Nature and Creativity
• Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment
  
• Time and Fear
• Bogeyman Syndrome Redux

I learned many new things in these sections. First, Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, created seven types of intelligences and decided to add an "eighth intelligence" in which he felt was very important. The eighth intelligence was titled naturalist intelligence or "nature smart" (p. 71). He felt being involved in nature and knowing about it was just as important to intelligence as was being intellectually knowledgeable. Another interesting fact I found in the book was a study done on the area children play in. The study showed that children who play on a more natural playground versus an asphalt playground integrate more fantasy and make-believe play than those who have to play on a built surface (p. 87). This surprised me because I would have never thought there would have been a difference. Another fact that surprised me was that many federal and state governments are trying to reduce or get rid of recess time. They feel that pushing for higher test scores is more important than recess which to them is "a waste of time" (p. 98). This shocked me because recess is a time for kids to get out of the classroom for a while and be able to have some fun while doing physical activity. Due to the increased obesity rates among children you would think this would be the last thing they would consider. According to Richard Louv, "40 percent of 5 -8 year old's suffer from cardiac risk factors such as obesity" (p. 98). Test scores are important but so is the health of these young children. Last, I learned about "the Bogeyman Syndrome Redux." The Bogeyman Syndrome is how parents and their children perceive nature (p. 123). Yes, if you watch movies like "The Blair Witch Project" there is a good chance you will be scared but remember IT IS JUST A MOVIE. Nature is not scary. Many times the media like to portray it as a bad place but that is wrong. Also, parents are just not as trusting these days, which I cannot blame them. There is violence but it is not as bad as parents assume. Let your kids go play with friends in areas that are close to home or go with them if it makes you feel better. Overall, just make sure your kids get to explore nature as much as they can because it will only benefit them in the future.

As a society we should care about this problem because it affects everyone, not just children. Nature has a calming effect for everyone that enters it. It is a good place to read, study, play with your kids, or just to sight see. Lately, everyone is so afraid of letting their kids get out there and explore but go with them! Experience nature with your kids, family, or friends because you will enjoy it. We need to start using it if we want to keep it.

Read'n'Seed: First Quarter of The Last Child in the Woods

This was my first week of reading the book, The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. I read pages 1 through 70. These pages covered the introduction, part I, and two parts of part II. For the next time I plan to finish up part II and read part III.

There are many main topics this part of the book covered:

• Children born during the last 2-3 decades are the focus
• Gifts of Nature
  
• New Relationship between children and nature
  
• Children are raised differently than in the past
  
• Nature/Foods being chemically altered
• Criminalization of Natural Play
• Depression and Nature

There are many things I have learned from this book already. Being that the children born within the last two or three decades are the focus it is really interesting to read because that includes me and a lot of others in my life. I have never really thought about how much I do not experience nature. When driving I am usually listening to music or talking on the phone or if it comes to a longer trip I usually have my I-pod in or am watching a DVD. Just that fact alone makes what this books says very true. These days most kids do not want to go play outside, they want to watch T.V., play video games, or go on the computer. Yes, we do have a lot of information on the environment but we do not apply it. I do know global warming is increasing and the ozone layer is depleting but what does this really do for me? I could not tell you the difference between trees or what a certain flower is. What this book really wants to convey is rebuilding the relationship between nature and children. They want to show us that nature is beautiful and has a lot of uplifting effects such as making you happy when you are stressed or even less depressed. I was surprised to find out that nature has this effect on a lot of people. For example, they talk a lot about depression and kids. One fact Richard Louv stated was, "A 2003 survey, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, found the rate at which American Children are prescribed antidepressants, almost doubled in five years; the steepest increase-66 percent-was among preschool children" (2005, p. 47-48). This fact alone is outrageous. Preschool children already on prescribed antidepressants? Something has to be done to decrease this number. Hopefully throughout the book it will give more ideas on how to truly enjoy nature and what it has to offer.

One word I had to look up was biophillia. According to Wikipedia, biophilia is "the love of life or living systems" (Wikipedia, 2010).
Another word I looked up was Utilitarianism. According to Wikipedia, utilitarianism is "the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure" (Wikipedia, 2010).

This problem affects societies in many ways. If people and children do not appreciate nature why would they try to preserve it? What I mean when I say this is people could truly stop caring about nature. Littering, vandalism, and demolition of nature areas could increase. The book has already talked about how a lot of the parks and trails are being taken away due to low numbers of certain animals. Also, as I talked about before, stress and depression are already high in the U.S. and if nature can help lower it lets use it. If preschool aged children are already on prescribed antidepressants I wonder how many adolescents and adults are because of the increased pressures as you get older. This problem with nature has been a problem for many years it just has not been talked about. Now after reading part of this book I want to show to others it is a bigger problem than we think. Just looking at myself I realize I am one of the people who has been taking the environment for granted and that needs to change. We cannot expect to have these same resources ten to twenty years from now if we do not start appreciating it. What I think could be done to bring awareness to this issue is to have events or discussions for communities, bring it into the classroom in both k through 12 classes and college courses, and have available information to the public.

Read'n'Seed 1: Last Child in the Woods

The book I chose is Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv.

This book is about how kids these days no longer like to go out and explore nature. Kids would rather be inside with all of their technology than out exploring. The author, Richard Louv, decided to write this book after his children confronted him about his childhood stories. He would share stories with them about how he would explore nature and attend camp and they were upset they had not got the chance to do the same thing.
Louv, Richard. "Last Child in the Woods." Introduction of book.

I chose this book because it is a current and important topic that needs to be addressed. I am interested in childhood obesity, which is one of the topics they focus on. Children these days do not appreciate nature as much as they should and take it for granted. Their addiction to video games, cell phones, internet, and television is awful. I am hoping to get more information after reading this book.

The first link I found was http://richardlouv.com/. This website is the author, Richard Louv's. It contains information on the Last Child in the Woods and other books he has written. On this site you will be able to find an overview, excerpt, reviews, video, and purchase options for the book.

A second link I found was located at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Last-Child-Woods-Children-Nature-Deficit/dp/1565123913 Amazon gives book reviews from many different sources. Some sources are Publishers Weekly, Scientific American, and the general customer. There are also options to buy the book, learn more about the author, find similar books, or to have book discussions.

The third link I found is located in google books. The website is http://books.google.com/books?id=7jxGAw7bJawC&printsec=frontcover&dq=last+child+in+the+woods&source=bl&ots=4qzqWb9ri2&sig=2e_vNUvjT8GAcgXAMUmJJpZekwE&hl=en&ei=ezujTJSGM4XgnAen4ciIBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false This site actually has it where you can preview a lot of the book, read or write reviews, and places where you can buy the book.

In this book there are 336 pages with an introduction and seven parts. I have decided to to read the intro and part I and II (pages 1 to 98) for the first quarter. The second quarter will consist of part III (pages 115 to 145). The third quarter will be parts IV and V (pages 161 to 223). The fourth quarter will be parts VI and VII (pages 233 to 309). I am hoping this set up will work out but because the book is reserved at the UMD library the schedule may change if the book happens to be checked out when I need it.

I am very excited to start reading Last Child in the Woods to see what Richard has to say about this important issue. Keep coming back to check out my Read'n'Seeds to get my opinion on the book!




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Welcome to Out and About with Alicia

Hi I am Alicia! I created this blog for my Environment Health class. My blog is going to be about being environmentally healthy. As you see the title of my blog is Out and About with Alicia and that is because I like to do almost anything, especially if it is outside. If weather permits I am always outside either playing sports, running, walking on the shore of Lake Superior, swimming, or etc! Soon there will be more on my page. Come back and take a look!

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:

1. Brenda: Brenda@Barefoot in the Backyard with Brenda
   
2. Dane: Dane@Danes Trail of Health
   
3. JD: JD@Earth and Me with JD
   
4. Samantha J: Sam@Sustainability with Sam
   
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6. Molly: Molly@Mollys Rico Eco
   

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This was my first time posting something on my blog! It was actually very easy and fun. This post was used to explain how you will be able to subscribe to my blog to follow me this semester.