Earlier today, I heard Cheryl Charles present the Brandwein Lecture, The Ecology of Hope: Building a Movement to Reconnect Children and Nature. Charles, who is president and CEO of Children and Nature Network, says kids are spending more than 20 hours a week on “electronic umbilica,” some becoming obese as a result. Other unpleasant side effects include diminished creativity and a lack of confidence in problem solving, and today’s students are “the most medicated generation in human history.”
Charles urged teachers to “let kids touch the living world.” Doing so produces “happier, healthier, smarter” students who are less stressed and more self-disciplined; even those diagnosed with ADD/ADHD calm down when exposed to nature and the outdoors–even if “nature” is simply having a plant in the classroom. Students who regularly do hands-on science outdoors or with materials from nature show a 27% increase in science assessment scores, she points out.
Visit www.childrenandnature.org for resources and suggestions for getting kids outdoors. Undergraduates and graduates in science education also need to connect with nature, notes Charles, because it will help them become better teachers.
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