Still, the shapes are kind of neat. Aren't they?
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Ok, topic. The post title is referring to a phrase that's kind of become a buzzword in interpretation lately, to the point where I kind of find it annoying. For anyone outside of my insular naturalist world, the whole thing more or less came about with Richard Louv and what he called "nature-deficit disorder". The gist of it (for my purposes, at any rate) is that children who are disconnected from nature and the outdoors are less healthy -- both physically and mentally -- in their day-to-day lives. Children who have unstructured play outside on a regular basis tend to be better adjusted in life as a whole.
Ok, yeah. Sounds reasonable. But when you're hearing it over and over again as kind of a rallying cry, it can get to be a whatever topic in a hurry.
That is, until you see it in action.
I usually work with elementary school children (that'd be about ages 4 - 12, for those who aren't familiar with the North American school system). This past week, however, I had a few groups of teenagers. I don't always look forward to teenagers, partly because they're hitting the stage where it's natural for them to test their boundaries with adults, and partly because most of them are taller than me. It's funny, but the height thing doesn't generally bother me with adults. With kids, though, it's undeniable that height subliminally conveys a certain amount of authority.
Um, anyway.
Teenagers towards the end of the school year when everyone's ready to just stop listening and get the hell out of Dodge? Sounds like trouble. But... I really got a different dynamic this week. Instead of yeah, right, Nature Girl, I found myself with good listeners who asked fantastic questions. Even the group I was expecting to be extremely difficult got into things a fair bit once we were out on the trail.
So what happened? Am I just that good at holding an audience? Well, my ego and I would like to say yes, but I think a big part of it was that the kids were really happy to be outside. They've been indoors all term, they're finishing their exams, and this gave them a chance to go out, enjoy the day (I was lucky to have some pretty decent days for the programs), and learn something about nature. Yes, I was still teaching, but not in the structured you-have-to-learn-this way we expect kids to deal with. And did they get something out of it?
I genuinely think that they did. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, anyway.
Interesting to see the outdoor theory in practice, in any case.
So, the moral? Well, not to get high-horsey or anything, but how about if I just give you a little nudge to encourage your children to drop the computers and video games for a while now and then and find out what's going on outside? Give them some unscheduled time. Not everything has to be filled up with lessons, teams, and homework. Something as simple as that could help create a happier person in the long run, and it sure as heck isn't going to hurt them any.
She says, while typing on a computer in the basement.
Maybe I should go practice what I preach...
