Commentary News
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Children and Nature Workshop – June 27, 2007
On Mental Health: How a psychiatrist included nature in his child and adolescent practice
By Claude Arnett, M.D.
His clients, adolescents and young adults with serious mental and addictive disorders, are often stuck in demanding and constricting time schedules, receiving valuable counseling but still "just moving from one box, their homes, to another box, an office." Dr Arnette explained. He's making an active effort to change that scenario after reading Last Child in the Woods. "The book helped me realize that they needed to get out into open, natural spaces with blue sky, wind, water, plants and animals, and these experiences needed to be as timeless as possible."
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OpEd – October 01, 2007
No Child Left Behind in Science
By Pergams and Zaradic
Science has lost its priority in the American school system. Pergams and Zaradic propose a national solution to our low science diet -- rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act to include “hands-on” science and experience in nature.
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CBN – September 03, 2007
CBN News Features No Child Left Inside report
By Mark Martin and Kim Bonney
In this report, original broadcast July 24, 2007, CBN News examines the troubling gap between kids and nature.
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Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada – August 11, 2007
The rise of nature-deficit disorder
By Stephen Scharper
Toronto professor Stephen Scharper writes of his sense of loss upon hearing that the waters and woods that helped shape him in his youth were no longer there to help frame and contour the lives of our children.
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Seattle Times – September 02, 2007
The plan: No plan at all
By Danny Westneat
Journalist Danny Westneat joins what he describes as a "quiet uprising" in America; a minirebellion against the over-programming of kids. In his quest to reclaim his family and their ties with nature he opts out of organized sports, summer camps, and elaborate vacations plans to "just hang around."
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The San Francisco Chronicle – August 25, 2007
Life Lessons: Daughters and butterflies spread wings
By Susan DeMersseman
Psychologist and parent educator Susan DeMersseman discusses the need for children to see their relationship to the ever-changing natural environment and to see how they can be part of it in a positive way.
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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.
