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LETTER: Help kids develop emotional connection to natural world around them

'Nature is a very cost-efficient way of improving physical and mental health. Nowhere are the benefits of time outdoors more evident than in our kids,' says letter writer

BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is from Living Green Barrie board member Deb Woods.
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Nature is a very cost-efficient way of improving physical and mental health. Nowhere are the benefits of time outdoors more evident than in our kids. But in most parts of the developed world children today are exposed less and less to the gifts nature can provide.

It is estimated that children today spend half the time outside that their parents did (four hours/week compared to 8.2 hours). The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa points to some of the serious repercussions of our children’s increasingly sedentary lifestyle. They cite obesity that can lead to diabetes and cardio complications, poor bone development and increased mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and paranoia.

An Ontario Student Health survey found kids in grades 7-12 spent up to seven hours/day on screens. Combine this with poor urban planning leading to a lack of access to green space and increased traffic and hard surfaces; risk-averse parents, teachers, and care givers; as well as low priority given to outdoor enjoyment by parents themselves, and kids can truly be stuck inside.

One of the few benefits of the pandemic has been an increased emphasis on outdoor, socially distanced activity by individuals and families.

Benefits from self-directed play in nature include intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual gains.

Educators have observed more engagement in learning after outdoor activity, and children with ADHD in a U.S. study benefitted as much from a 20-minute walk in nature as from the peak effect of ADHD medications. In addition to developing physical skills, children develop increased resilience, a feeling of autonomy and a sense of being connected to something bigger than themselves.

Play becomes learning; learning is play. All this leads to reduced stress, less self-absorption and an emotional connection to the natural world around them.

A Frontiers in Psychology paper 2018 concluded “It is time to take nature seriously as a resource for learning.”

There are many things we can we do to encourage kids to play in natural spaces. We can advocate for retention and creation of more green spaces in our cities and towns, help plant and care for more trees (Living Green has a goal to plant 10,000 trees in Barrie), and set common sense limits on our kids’ screen time (recommended total of two hours/day).

Of course, the pandemic has forced children to learn remotely, so they are on screens now for most of the day. Families can promote walking, cycling, public transit over travel by car and act to slow traffic in our neighbourhoods. We can model taking time in nature with family hikes and exploration.

Parents can rethink what’s most important for children in their spare time by ensuring they have free time after school rather than programming every minute in extracurricular organized activities.

We can calm our minds about risks of outdoor play (fear of strangers, hazards in natural spaces). We are lucky to have many outdoor opportunities for kids in our area (depending on pandemic restrictions) such as: Barrie Forest and Natural Learning School, Discovery Child Care for kids six weeks-12 years, Free Spirit Forest and Nature School, Oro-Medonte Forest School, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority environmental day camp at Tiffin Centre, Clearwater Farm in Georgina, outdoor programs at the YMCA or offered by municipalities, summer and holiday outdoor camps.

Increasingly the voices of children and youth are being raised to combat the worst ravages of climate change and environmental degradation. We need to respond to these voices with action that includes encouraging our own children and grandchildren to know and love the natural world and to fight to preserve it.

Deb Woods
Barrie

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