Nature - dirty and unsafe?

[sandbender]

Just had a scan through this article on the beeb about childrens disconnection from nature...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24532638

...where one conclusion was that...

"...There is definitely an attitude out there, in some cases, that nature is not perceived as interesting or engaging. In some cases it is perceived as a dirty or unsafe thing..."

Which is a bit sad really, I have my three year old rescuing snails and beetles from the pavement and moving them to the undergrowth.

I recall meeting a young bloke who was part of a team who took British kids down the Ardeche gorge each summer, he mentioned that some of them were terrified of wind blown seeds, they thought they might be dangerous.

 

[Bowlander]

This lot have been doing it for years:

http://www.countrytrust.org.uk

Some of the kids on the visits I talked to had never been out their own town, despite it having cycle tracks and a canal leading out into a wooded river valley.

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[British Red]

Dirty and unsafe?

That's a town!

 

[uncleboob]

I'm lucky enough to be able to spend much of my time delivering sessions based around horticulture, green woodworking and forest schools- it's quite frightening how disconnected lots of young people are from their environment and how many of them are frightened by being outside amongst nature...it's just about opportunities and encouragement- how many young people get the chance or encouragement to explore the world around them?

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[mousey]

I find it interesting the article goes on to say that childern in urban areas 'score' higher in the test than those in rural areas!

maybe the test focuses too much on what is known about the countryside - after all I can know a lot of stuff about subjects without having any direct experience of them...

 

[John Fenna]

Many urban areas have more open spaces for kids to play in than the countryside!
With farmers keener than ever to stop trespass most fields and woods are "out of bounds" and most rights of way are unmaintained so unless a child lives on a farm they have less access to "Nature" than an urban dweller surrounded by inner city parks!

 

[mousey]

AH well there you go - I'm in scotland so trespassing is fair game

Although I did grow up on the outskirts of london and I suppose there was quite alot of green around if I went for a longish walk. [as a child un-maintained paths / access rights never really stopped me]

My folks always used to take us out [probably the peak district] all I remember is sitting in the car for a couple of hours then being let out to run around fields up n down hills and play in streams - I believe they were taking us to where they used to hang out as children

 

[Mesquite]

One of the projects I set up when working for the probation service was on a large allotments site. Some of the guys who had to work there were genuinely horrified that people were going to eat things that had been growing in dirty muddy soil.

As for what happened when they came across frogs and slow worms...

 

[treadlightly]

Many urban areas have more open spaces for kids to play in than the countryside!
With farmers keener than ever to stop trespass most fields and woods are "out of bounds" and most rights of way are unmaintained so unless a child lives on a farm they have less access to "Nature" than an urban dweller surrounded by inner city parks!

Good point

 

[Toddy]

True story;
There we are, me and Monarch, stood on a moor at the far edge of Skye with 30 kids, couple of teachers and a few mums.
It was a wet day (it was Skye) and one wee boy put his face up to the rain and stuck his tongue out to catch the raindrops.
"Don't do that; it's dirty", snapped a mum
......and I'm stood there stunned, thinking, "Madam, there's nothing between here and America but a 1,000+ miles of Atlantic ocean; how the hell can the rain be 'dirty' ? It doesn't even have the chlorine in it like the tapwater.



M

 

[treadlightly]

Children's disconnect from nature comes from their parents, as illustrated in your story Mary, and the process was a gradual one, I would say. Since the industrial revolution we have slowly moved away from nature, slowly increased our reliance on technology and the results are now all around us. I believe nature is our greatest teacher and we are suffering badly by turning our backs on such a wonderful resource.

 

[Mesquite]

Children's disconnect from nature comes from their parents, as illustrated in your story Mary, and the process was a gradual one, I would say. Since the industrial revolution we have slowly moved away from nature, slowly increased our reliance on technology and the results are now all around us. I believe nature is our greatest teacher and we are suffering badly by turning our backs on such a wonderful resource.

I remember someone posting something he saw on the forum that illustrated that perfectly.

From what I can remember the person was in a woodland carpark where this young lad was running about in the woods when he found a large beetle. He rushed back to where his parents and big sister were ensconced in their car busily engrossed on their I-phones to show them his discovery.

Mum screamed in horror shouting at him to take that disgusting thing away and sister threw him a really contemptuous look. Dad barely dragged his eyes away from his i-phone to back mum up. The poor lad was totally dejected at the response he got so he did as he was told and threw away the beetle, went and got in the car, hunkered down all miserable and pulled out his electronic game console...

All I could think when I read that was what a wasted opportunity in that boys life.

 

[boatman]

Overheard conversation last year between two mid teenage girls about a recent, unaccompanied by adults,over night camp she and some friends had had. A nice night in the woods, couple of boys from the same school happened to be there as well, no romantic or other implications, just kids in the open air enjoying themselves. High quality parents in this part of Cornwall along with sensible youth. One can see this as well any day of the year on the beaches as well. Fishing, swimming, surfing, kayaking or paddleboarding they just do it.

Apart from the water activities it was much the same in Wiltshire where children from a young age would vanish for the day in the holidays doing whatever they fancied.

However, it is noticeable that some of the students from other parts of the country do behave like spoilt brats.

 

[sandbender]

"...what a wasted opportunity in that boys life. .."

I'm happy for my wee one to rummage about as much as she wants...

 

[iHydro]

I'm guilty of letting my kids sit and fester on their consoles over the weekend (I do it myself with my PC), however following the 100 huts post elsewhere on here, I've decided to take my boys to some nearby woods for a "walk". Will try and find somewhere off the beaten track so that we can build a shelter and I'll be taking the little stove and some ramen and spam with me to feed us at lunchtime. I plan on making a day of it and get us all thoroughly dug in and enjoying it. I've recently had a big lifestyle change myself due to my own mother passing from various health complaints due to being overweight. I certainly don't plan on following in her footsteps and certainly don't want my kids going that route either. 7Kg weight loss in 2 months by changing my diet alone has made me feel lots better in myself. I'm still keeping active and my weight is still dropping, and a hopeful move to cornwall by the end of the year will see me taking the family out and doing more activites to improve overall health for all of us.

 

[mousey]

A while ago my sons found a snail, the eldest called him george and the youngest called the leaf they found him on ben, they wanted to take the leaf and snail home to keep as pets

 

[dwardo]

Which is a bit sad really, I have my three year old rescuing snails and beetles from the pavement and moving them to the undergrowth.

My little lad knows how to rescue snails from the veg patch and drop kick them over the fence! Its upto the parents to get their kids out there and muddy. Next year my little one will be steadier on his feet and will be straight upto the woods with me shootnig bows, rifles and making fires,,, canne wait.

 

[huntergathereralex]

...no, that should be: cities, dirty and unsafe...
Alex(rolling around in the dirt, in an unsafe manner out in the woods)

 

[Bowlander]

Dirty and unsafe?

That's Miley Cyrus

Fixed that for you!

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[British Red]

Poor girl _ I feel sorry for he from the little I have read