© Children & Nature Network Children’s Nature Deficit: What We Know – and Don’t Know September 2009 1
Children’s Nature Deficit:
What We Know – and Don’t Know
September 2009
by Cheryl Charles, Ph.
D.
, and Richard Louv
A growing body of evidence suggests...
More
© Children & Nature Network Children’s Nature Deficit: What We Know – and Don’t Know September 2009 1
Children’s Nature Deficit:
What We Know – and Don’t Know
September 2009
by Cheryl Charles, Ph.
D.
, and Richard Louv
A growing body of evidence suggests that significant changes in childhood have
occurred over the past several decades relating to children’s experiences in nature.
While there are always exceptions, there are strong indicators of an absence of
direct experience with the natural world in many children’s everyday lives.
In addition to direct measurements, there are a variety of ways to consider
children’s nature deficit and its extent.
Numerous studies offer both quantitative
and qualitative indicators of changes in childhood, among them: perception of
growing demands on children’s time, resulting in less free and unstructured outdoor
playtime in nature than experienced by previous generations; reduced mobility and
less range for exploration, including reduction in walk
Less
