Many kids today aren’t spending time outside. From instant messaging to XBOX Live, children don’t need to leave their houses to interact with each other. A 2002 study concluded that the average British eight-year-old could identify more Pokemon characters than actual species native to their homes.
Author of Last Child in the Woods Richard Louv calls this lack of outdoor exposure "nature-deficit disorder."
According to Louv’s book, nature-deficit disorder causes dulled senses, attention difficulties, and high rates of physical and emotional maladies – symptoms similar to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, Louv says the disorder can be reversed:
"Exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and it can improve all children’s cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stress and depression."
One program that has made childhood exposure to nature their highest priority is Mountain School, run by The North Cascades Institute.
The Institute is located in the heart of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on the northern shore of Diablo Lake in Washington State. Getting to the institute involves a 90-minute drive on the North Cascades Scenic Highway. Nearing the school, students cross Diablo Dam. On their left, they see the nearly 400-foot drop. If you throw a pebble over the edge it takes five seconds before small ripples appear in the tranquil pools below. On their right is the lake and the Mountain School facility.
Mountain School is a three-day environmental education program for elementary, middle and high school students. Their mission, as Education Director Jeff Giesen puts it, is to save the world by teaching future generations to be environmental stewards.
"We’re trying to get the kids to enjoy the outdoors," said Giesen. "They’re gonna go home and ask their parents, ‘Hey, can we go camping for a night?’ These kids are young. They’re 10 years old, but they can do a lot. They can actually change perceptions within their family."
Giesen recruits classes from across Washington State to be a part of the 20-year-old program, which started as an educational camping excursion at the nearby Newhalem campground. It has rapidly grown over the last four years and now educates 2,000 students annually.
The program differs from one grade to the next. Elementary students spend three days exploring the North Cascades ecosystem and studying Northwest natural history. Middle school and high school students study habitat stability through what is called the carnivore curriculum.
The carnivore curriculum entails hiking through the forest and collecting data on ground cover, canopy cover, and coarse woody debris to determine if the area is a stable habitat for the reintroduction of the fisher, pine martin, and lynx. Students then compile the data onto graphs and present their findings to the whole school, said Mountain School instructor Jenny Frederick.
"Many of these kids have never experienced nature in this way," said Frederick. "Our goal is to get the kids out into the natural world in their own communities."
Frederick is one of eight Western Washington University graduate students working toward their Master of Education at the Institute. She said she hopes the program will inspire stu-dents to get out of the house and interact with nature, and from the looks of it, it’s working.
"It’s great just to be outdoors instead of sitting around on the computer," said Sam Kallberg, a sophomore from Highline High School in Burien, Wash. "Yeah, I’ve been camping and fishing before at campgrounds, but nothing like this," she said. "This is the coolest nature spot I’ve been to. It makes me wish I could get out more when I get home."
Kallberg attended Mountain School for her second consecutive year this April with her art class instructed by Lisa Bade.
Bade, who chaperoned 10 students from her art class at Mountain School this year, said the program teaches her students things they would never have learned in the classroom.
Every trash can at the institute is labeled "landfill." When the students sort their waste into compost, recycle, and landfill bins, they envision where each component of their trash will end up.
Bade said that things like the "landfill" labeled trash cans give her students a tactile experience of conservation.
"I teach kids who never get out into the wild," said Bade. "Kids need to get out into the wilderness to see what is at risk. When they are surrounded by concrete, what is there to save?"
Gene Myers, associate professor of environmental studies at Western Washington University, said children become accustomed to whatever environment they grow up in. It becomes their baseline of normality. In other words, they don’t realize that concrete isn’t natural. This is why Mountain School wants children from every type of community to see what nature is really like.
Bade said the staff does a great job of incorporating their curriculum in the goals of the various classes attending Mountain School. For her art class, that means observing the forest around them and creating scientific and artistic illustrations to enhance their presentation on the last day.
Scott Leppert’s special education class from Highline accompanied Bade’s class this year. It was the first time Leppert was able to bring his class to Mountain School because of a grant he received from the Foundation for Excellence.
Leppert said Mountain School provides more for his students than just environmental education. The staff make themselves responsible for his students’ physical and emotional needs.
"I knew immediately that it’s what my students needed," said Leppert after leading his class back from the forest trails. "Here, you get to experience the academics you are learning. You get to feel it, to see it, to touch it."
The cost of Mountain School is $300 per student, but Giesen said the North Cascades Institute reduces the cost for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. Often times, up to $200 can be subsidized per student. Then it is up to the students, teachers and parents to raise the rest of the funds.
Recent budget deficits have made it harder for many schools to afford the program. Mount Vernon School District, which previously included Mountain School in its fifth grade curriculum and accounted for 50 percent of the program’s students, was forced to cut the funding last year.
Fortunately for the program, the budget deficit is the only obstacle keeping students from attending. Giesen said there is no opposition to the program. He said whenever he recruits at Parent Teacher Association meetings, everyone is in agreement that Mountain School is a much-needed experience.
Giesen said parents and teachers agree that children are missing out on the types of outdoor activities they enjoyed in their childhood.
A study conducted by Manhattanville College professor Rhonda L. Clements found that out of 71 percent of mothers who regularly played outside as children, only 26 percent of their children spent time playing outside.
Another study conducted by University of Maryland professor, Sandra Hofferth, found that from 1997 to 2003 there was a 50 percent decline in children ages nine to 12 who spent time hiking, fishing, walking, playing on the beach and gardening, while there was a comparative increase in time spent on computers, reading, and sleeping.
University of Washington professor of psychology Peter Kahn calls this disconnection between children and nature Generational Environmental Amnesia. But according to Kahn, programs like Mountain School can reset a child’s baseline.
Sebastian Gorden, a student from Bades’ class, said nothing he has experienced com-pares to Mountain School. He said after he gets back to Burien he and his classmates are going to change the way they live.
"I used to litter a lot," said Gordon. "Then I got up here, and you realize how beautiful the earth would be if there wasn’t trash everywhere."
David Gonzales studies visual journalism. He has been published in the Western Front.
.gif)
