In the Digital Age, How to Get Students Excited About Going Outdoors

"Louv in his book Last Child in the Woods has since become famous for coining the term Nature-Deficit Disorder — not as a medical diagnosis, but as shorthand for what’s happening to kids who stay, for the most part, inside, away from nature, for the majority of their young lives. He uses strong research to support his claims that rising rates of obesity, depression and anxiety, and ADHD symptoms could well be linked to kids’ disconnection from trees, fields and streams. 

Louv points to several factors contributing to children’s increased time away from nature, including increased parental anxiety of both dangerous situations and strangers, schools’ focus on testing, and the increased use of technology at younger and younger ages. While maintaining he’s not against the use of technology in education, Louv also believes that schools and science curriculum could step in and help incorporate more nature into children’s lives to improve both health and achievement. 'There’s a growing awareness of the importance of this,” Louv said. “If you really want true education reform, we’ll have No Child Left Inside.'"

Read the complete article at http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/08/in-the-digital-age-how-to-get-students-excited-about-going-outdoors/