This summer, get the kids out
among the trees

BY DANIELLE HARDER

Patricia Lowe sees a lot as an educator with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA). What never fails to amaze her is how amazed some kids are by nature.

"You get the kid who is so pumped, who has never had that experience before and you can't turn them off," she laughs. "At the end of the day they tell you, 'This was the best day of my life!' and you think, my goodness, all we did is take you on a hike." Lowe, director of watershed stewardship, community outreach and education with CLOCA, says while there are still plenty of kids who love the outdoors, she has noticed that some children are becoming detached from the natural world.
And no wonder.

"We're so paranoid about our kids getting dirty and we're always using antibacterial soaps. We're telling them not to eat this and that because it fell on the ground and so there's that negative perception of nature," she says.

Lowe sees the vandalism of parks and conservation areas by young people as a symptom of this disconnectedness, where "nature is something to be conquered" rather than enjoyed.

There's been increasing concern about the relationship between kids and the great outdoors. Three years ago, U.S. author, Richard Louv, released Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books, 2005).

Louv, an accomplished journalist, argues that after tens of thousands of years of playing and working outdoors, the interaction between kids and nature has vanished in the span of a few decades.

He found that between 1970 to 1994, the radius children tended to go away from their house shrunk to one-ninth of what it had been. Partly, urban sprawl and our desire to tame nature has reduced accessibility to the natural world. But Louv argues video games and television have also kept kids indoors. He says the biggest culprit of all has been the fear of parents.

"Fear is the most potent force that prevents parents from allowing their children the freedom they themselves enjoyed when they were young," he writes. Patricia Lowe jokes that Last Child in the Woods is now "prescribed reading" at CLOCA but she says Louv does raise some serious points. However, she says getting today's technically savvy kids into the great outdoors will take more than the promise of wildlife, flora and fauna.

"Kids are so adapt at any technology, so it's about how we combine those things," she says. Recently, CLOCA has introduced an orienteering program where kids learn first with a compass and then with a GPS system.

"They're exploring the same environment but with a bit of a different tool," she says.

Lowe says it's important to reconnect kids with nature if, for no other reason, to provide them with a "de-stressor."

"It's all of your senses. That's why we get refreshed by it, whether it's a visual, a sound, a feeling, and sometimes it's just the wind blowing through the spruce trees. You think, 'I remember that sound from when I was a kid,'" she says. "There's those associations that adults might have that this next generation might not. Their de-stressor might be the sound of a computer turning on."

Lowe says ultimately children need to experience nature to understand their place in the world.

"Too bad for kids, but they have been disconnected because, for example, you turn on the tap and water comes out. You don't have to go to a well," says Lowe. She's concerned that if we don't bring children back to the woods, the connection to nature will be lost altogether. Already, she's seeing signs of a growing disconnect in their parents. At a hike last year, parents told Lowe "I've always wanted to do this but I didn't know how."

Lowe recommends parents start with nature in their backyard by installing bird feeders or planting native species, not necessarily a big canoe trip to Algonquin. A hike in nature doesn't hurt, either. There are many great, gentle trails across Ontario. Here are some of the best near home. Call ahead to find out about group hikes or special educational classes.

• Central Lake Ontario Conservation www.cloca.com
• Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority www.lsrca.on.ca
• Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority www.grca.on.ca
• Toronto and Region Conservation Authority www.trca.on.ca
• Kawartha Conservation www.kawarthaconservation.com

Danielle Harder is a freelance writer in Whitby, who also teaches healthy eating cooking classes. You can reach her at danielleharder@rogers.com

10.06.08