Today, right now, that question reaches well
beyond the local environment. It has gone
global. One answer likely resides within the
environmental education of our children.
What is environmental education?
Appropriately explained by the No Child Left
Inside website, environmental education is
the study of the relationships and
interactions between dynamic natural and
human systems. Moreover, it includes learning
in the field -- not just the classroom.
Rising generations will inherit problems
unlike those ever faced by mankind. The
planet stands on the edge of sweeping,
interconnected concerns such as climate
change, water pollution, air pollution,
non-point pollution, burgeoning trash, and
more. All induced by people.
These issues are complicated and, perhaps,
the solutions are too. Present environmental
issues influence not just our ecology, but
our health, economy, even our national
security. Our future as a race and that of
the Earth will depend on the actions of
coming generations. Therefore, they need to
be educated, aware, enlightened about the
environment.
But wait. There's a catch.
Today's children are losing touch with
nature. Our children are spending less and
less time outside than ever. They do,
however, spend an average of four hours daily
watching TV, surfing the Internet, and
playing video games. Additionally, in an
increasingly protective society, many parents
limit their children's outdoor activities,
fearing injury, disease, bullying, abduction,
even litigation. Some schools have eliminated
recess for similar reasons.
Author Richard Louv, in his book Last Child
in the Woods, coined the term "nature-deficit
disorder" to describe this phenomenon. A
national organization, the Children & Nature
Network, has stemmed from Louv's observations
with the assistance of the network's
president, Dr. Cheryl Charles. While in Rhode
Island recently, Charles anecdotally noted
that discussions with educators across the
country support Louv's contention. Often,
teachers related that children expressed
apprehension about field trips due to anxiety
about unknown aspects of nature.
Have we lost the battle to bring
environmental education to younger generations?
No, we haven't. In fact, to reference Malcolm
Gladwell, who wrote The Tipping Point: How
Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, we
just might be experiencing this era's moment
when something uncommon - in this case,
environmental education -- becomes a social
epidemic.
In addition to new groups such as the
Children & Nature Network, national
organizations such as the U.S. Park Service,
the National Wildlife Federation, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and many
others are promoting environmental education
and its benefits.
Research studies conducted by the State
Education and Environmental Roundtable in
2005 illustrate that students learning in an
environmental-based curriculum perform higher
than, or equal to, their peers in more
traditional programs. An interactive,
learning atmosphere provides opportunities
for students to investigate the natural and
social systems that comprise their local
environment. This approach increases
awareness of the complexity of life in their
community while simultaneously fostering
civic responsibility.
A simple example of the cross-disciplinary
learning that environmental education
encourages is a class studying a stream. In
just one exercise, the students can be
exposed to geography, history, mathematics,
biology and English by investigating the
stream's location, its past, measuring flow
and volume, identifying flora and fauna, and
writing a report.
Locally, programs, classes and field trips
are offered to children by non-profit
organizations such as the Audubon Society of
Rhode Island and others, including the R.I.
Environmental Educators Association, Save The
Bay, Roger Williams Park Zoo and the R.I.
Department of Environmental Management. Each
advances learning in nature for succeeding
generations.
Legislators are hearing the clarion call of
environmental education too. U.S. Senator
Jack Reed understands. His recent No Child
Left Inside legislation would authorize $500
million in the next five years to states
creating environmental literacy strategies
that would train teachers and operate
programs in environmental education.
Reed said, "From saving the Bay to
confronting the challenges of climate change,
we need to prepare the next generation to
tackle and overcome some very complicated
environmental challenges. Teaching children
about the world around them should be an
important part of the curriculum in our schools."
The Rhode Island General Assembly has
approved a special license plate with the
phrase "Conservation Through Education," the
proceeds from which will allow local
environmental organizations to spread
environmental programming and outreach efforts.
We all should be listening as this movement
to bring children outdoors makes its literal
noise in the woods, the sound of which
affects us all as it grows louder.
Through
environmental education we can train new
generations of environmentally literate
citizens, knowledgeable, skilled people
that understand how to protect our world. We
need the population to be filled with
intelligent, sensitive stewards that will
increase the use and benefits of renewable
energy while addressing the woes of a
consumptive society.
Support environmental education. Help boost
school budgets for field trips. Back related
legislation such as the No Child Left Inside
Act. Register for an outdoor program offered
by local organizations. Lastly, and most
easily, take your child for a walk in nature.
The lessons are there. . .waiting to be learned.
Lawrence J.F. Taft
Executive Director of the Audubon Society of
Rhode Island
