Review News
Commentary | Education
The World Future Society ranks nature-deficit disorder #5
Children today are spending less time in direct contact with nature than did previous generations. The impacts are showing up not only in their lack of physical fitness, but also in the growing prevalence of hyperactivity and attention deficit.
Commentary | Media & Culture
Burlington County Times – March 18, 2008
New Book Looks at Nature Through Child’s Eyes
By Kristen Coppock
A child’s first discoveries of the natural world are the subject of a new book. Written by an American now living in Germany, Luisa’s Nature tries to capture the wonder and curiosity inspired by a young girl’s first encounters with plants and animals large and small. The author hopes that his work encourages parents to teach their children about nature and raises readers’ awareness of the environment.
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Commentary
Bellingham Herald – October 03, 2007
Author, educator defends a childhood that allows ‘inner wildness’
By Kie Relyea
Author and educator Chris Mercogliano encourages parents and caregivers to let kids play alone. "A ‘controlled’ childhood can lead to later problems," says Mercogliano. He also emphasizes the importance of getting them into the outdoors. “Get kids out into the natural world. There’s a real strong connection between wildness of an inner kind and wildness of an outer kind, the wildness we find in nature.”
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Commentary
The Philadelphia Inquirer – June 27, 2007
An idea as dangerous as all outdoors
By Karen Heller
“The Dangerous Book for Boys.” What is that about? This retro-edition book about any number of politically incorrect things boys can do as they play outdoors, from skinning a rabbit to waterproofing matches, celebrates an era of boyish innocence and inspires a newspaper columnist to consider the larger issue of nature-deficit disorder.
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Commentary | Media & Culture
San Francisco Chronicle
The Wild World Beyond the Playing Field
By Regan McMahon
Writer Regan McMahon explains why kids who are long on organized sports and short on unstructured play outdoors deserve time to explore nature at their own speed.
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National | Education
USA TODAY – November 22, 2006
The Children & Nature movement makes front page news in USA Today’s Thanksgiving Day edition.
By Wendy Koch
A back-to-nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is burgeoning nationwide. Programs, public and private, are starting or expanding as research shows kids suffer health problems, including obesity, from too much sedentary time indoors with TV and computers.
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Commentary | Media & Culture
SF Chronicle, Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A fed-up soccer mom calls for time out
By Steve Weinberg
Revolution in the Bleachers; How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports
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C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
