By:
Crystal
Lopez
Nature Deficit Disorder
What is Nature Deficit Disorder?
Lack of relationship with nature/environment
N.D.D. is what happens and has happened to young people who
become disconnected from their natural world
* Generation Y and Z
Barriers in Creating Connections to
Nature
According to Richard Louv...
Urbanization without nature
A culture of fear
Silicon faith
Cultural devaluing of nature
The post-apocalyptic view of the future
Urbanization Without Nature
As of 2008, for the first time in
human history, more people now
live in cities than in the
countryside. The barrier is not
the city, but the absence of
nature in the city.
Loss of urban parkland and the
destruction of nearby nature
within neighborhoods.
Disappearance of biodiversity:
the less we see, the less we
value
A Culture of Fear
Media-amplified fear of strangers.
The “criminalization” of natural play through social attitudes,
community covenants and regulations, and good intentions.
The natural world does pose risks — and some of these risks will
grow with the effects of climate change. But the benefits
outweigh the risks. The more we experience nature, the more we
know how to avoid natural risks, and the less we fear nature.
Silicon Faith
Technology now dominates almost every aspect of our lives.
Children’s lives are over-programmed and immersed in the virtual
world.
As we spend more of our lives looking at screens instead of
streams, our senses narrow; the more time we spend in the virtual
world, the less alive we feel – and the less energy we have for
going outside.
Without a countervailing cultural force, the economic power of
technology is overwhelming other values and solutions.
Cultural Devaluing of Nature
Nature is now commonly perceived as a “nice to have,” not a
“need to have” for children’s healthy growth and development.
Generational amnesia: as the decades and older generations
disappear, so does our aptitude for connecting with nature.
Our engagement with nature is being replaced by solastalgia –
the pain of seeing natural areas disappear, and the disengagement
that goes with that.
The Post-Apocalyptic View of the
Future
Nature is seen as the problem, not the solution.
The three greatest environmental challenges: climate change,
biodiversity collapse, and the disconnect of children from nature
Too many people in media, politics, environmentalism, and
religion are trapped within the dystopian vision, and diverted by
the ease of destruction.
The lack of a positive vision of a nature-rich future.
Benefits of Nature
Improves children's health
-Decrease chances of obesity
-Children's the age of 5 show decreases in A.D.D. symptoms when
engaged in nature
Improves ability to learn
-Critical thinking
-Problem solving
-Decision making
-Language skills
Nature Play
Nature play: includes any unstructured play outdoors such as
riding a bike, climbing a tree, swimming at the beach
Research indicates that when children play and learn in nature,
they do so with more vigor, engagement, imagination and
cooperation than in wholly artificial environments and that
symptoms of attention deficit and depression are reduced.
Experts agree that children need access to nature the same way
they need good nutrition and adequate sleep.
Let the Children Play
Research shows that...
Body
-Increases fitness levels and builds active, healthy bodies
-Raises levels of Vitamin D, helping protect children from future bones problems,
Mind
-School with environment education programs score higher on standardized tests in math,
reading, writing and listening
Spirit
-Play protects children's emotional development whereas loss of free time and a hurried
lifestyle can contribute to anxiety and depression
-Children tend to have higher levels of confidence
Work cited
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542520.pdf
http://richardlouv.com/blog/bring-down-the-barriers-five-causes-of-nature-
deficit-disorder-five-challen/
https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Kids-and-Nature/Programs/Nature-Play-Space
s.
aspx
