It takes time--loose, unstructured dreamtime-- to experience nature in a meaningful way. Unless parents are vigilant, such time becomes a scarce resource, not because we intend it to shrink, but because time is consumed by multiple, invisible forces; because our culture currently places so little value on natural play.
Richard LouvAs the nature deficit grows, another emerging body of scientific evidence indicates that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and emotional health. For example, new studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that it can improve all children's cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stresses and depression.
Richard LouvThere is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see.
Richard LouvTo take nature and natural play away from children may be tantamount to withholding oxygen.
Richard LouvThereโs no denying the benefits of the Internet. But electronic immersion, without a force to balance it, creates the hole in the boat โ draining our ability to pay attention, to think clearly, to be productive and creative.
Richard LouvRather than accepting the drifting separation of the generations, we might begin to define a more complex and interesting set of life stages and parenting passages, each emphasizing the connections to the generations ahead and behind. As I grow older, for example, I might first see my role as a parent in need of older, mentoring parents, and then become a mentoring parent myself. When I become a grandparent, I might expect to seek out older mentoring grandparents, and then later become a mentoring grandparent.
Richard Louv