WHEN I WAS growing up in my hometown in the early 1950s,back doors would flap open between 5:30 and 6 p.m.,and parents would call their kids to come home for dinner.We’d be out playing in the park,empty lot,or nearby ditch or creek.Back then,there wasn’t a TV station nearby, and those who had TVs had to capture signals from Cleveland or Detroit. There were no computers,cellphones or digital anything. Our fun was outdoors.
Now, according to author Richard Louv, only six per cent of nine- to 13-year-old children in the U.S. play outside weekly. This is reflected by a dramatic decline in swimming, biking and fishing. Mr. Louv, cofounder of the Children and Nature Network, noted that, in San Diego, “90 percent of inner- city kids don’t know how to swim” and “34 percent have never been to a beach.”
I live near the ocean, and when my children were in primary school, I would watch the tide charts for exceptionally low tides so I could take my daughters’ classes to the beach. It always surprised me to see how many of the kids had never been to a “wild” beach. Most had never rolled over a rock to find crabs, blennies, and anemones. Often, the immediate reaction was “Yuck,” but I never found a child who wasn’t entranced within a few minutes to find these natural wonders.
Now that I’m an old man, my sentiments may simply reflect nostalgia for the “good old days.” Children today find it hard to fathom the world of my childhood. “What did you do?” they ask in amazement. They can’t imagine a world without all the electronic accoutrements of their instant plugged-in world.
The eminent Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson coined the term “biophilia,”referring to our need to affiliate with other species (bio = life; philia= love). He believes this is built into our genes, a reflection of our evolutionary roots.In cities, we increasingly work against our biophilic needs by instilling a biophobia.
We teach our children by the way we react to nature’s intrusion into our homes: Take that out. Don’t touch. It might bite. This is a problem because the way we treat the world around us is a direct reflection of our values and beliefs. Compare the way we treat another species when we believe it is our biological kin rather than just a resource, commodity, or opportunity. The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it, and we will only protect what we know and love.
But our cities have developed with more regard for the needs of cars and commerce than people.
That’s why many environmentalists are concerned with the way young people are growing up. Modern technology offers a virtual world without hazards or discomfort — and without all the joys that the real world has to offer. Unless we are willing to encourage children to reconnect with the natural world, we can’t expect them to help protect and care for it.
