Most afternoons when I get home from work, my husband will ask me, “What did you do today?”
My standard answer is, “I got to play in the woods.”
I did not grow up playing sports like many children. I have never been what anyone would call athletic. However, I was never one to be inside. As a child, you could always find me outside exploring and usually near a puddle of water. I consider it a blessing that I can work where I am still able to get outside and reconnect with a puddle of water when I need to find clarity and peace.
Unfortunately, most of the students in K-12 education cannot say the same. According to “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder” Author Richard Louv, “Never before in human history, or prehistory, have children spent so little time in the natural world and that’s where they used to spend most of their developing years. Now, instead, we are spending more and more time indoors in front of computers and doing anything but going outdoors and experiencing nature.”
Nature Deficit Disorder is a non-medical condition introduced by Louv in “Last Child in the Woods” that suggests that children who are not allowed to spend time outdoors have more cognitive and behavioral issues than their counterparts. As Louv stated in a June 2020 New York Times article, “As young people spend less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, both physiologically and psychologically.”
This could lead children to have issues with stress and anxiety. Certainly, in these times of global pandemic, this condition was made worse by distancing restrictions, quarantines and an emphasis on online learning. However, even before the pandemic, fewer and fewer children were allowed free roam outside due to parental concerns for safety. This is where the engagement and education programs of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant can help rectify Nature Deficit Disorder and have a great influence on the quality of life for our children.
As we celebrate 50 years of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC), it is a perfect time to recognize the impact our place-based education programs have had on thousands of students across the region. Place-based education seeks to immerse students in local community, culture, experiences and opportunities and use them as a foundation in the study of our coastal ecosystems. The goal is to develop educated and engaged citizens who will make better environmental decisions as adults.
MASGC education programs are designed to help students learn to take care of our ecosystems by immersing them in nature. We get our students outside. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab Discovery Hall Programs, The University of Southern Mississippi Marine Education Center and The Mobile County Public Schools Environmental Studies Center have provided thousands of students the means to get out and experience nature as they should. We have provided a place for students to get out from behind their computers, smell fresh air and learn something about the environment.
As one student at the Environmental Studies Center recently stated, “It is so peaceful out here, it smells so good. I am so glad we came and got to go outside.” Our students are craving this interaction with nature, and it is our job to provide it.
When I had writer’s block for this blog post, I simply got up from my desk and wandered outside and sat by the lake a minute. It was not long before thoughts started flowing again. Since the days of “be home when the street lights come on” are seemingly over, we must continue to be a place of refuge where our students can get outside and explore nature in a safe, fun and educational manner. If not, as Louv advises, our children will suffer.
In fact, our planet will suffer as well. How can our children learn to value our planet and care for local ecosystems if they have never experienced them? As philosopher Khalil Gibran tells us, “And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
I say we indulge her, and go outside.
Meet the author
Tracy Jay, Ed.D.
Director, Environmental Studies Center
Tracy Jay is a member of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium's Engagement and Education Team. She is the director of the Mobile County Public School System's Environmental Studies... Read more
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