Raising the next generation of thinkers and non-thinkers

[applestar]

A neighborhood 8 yr old boy came to play with my kids yesterday.
Seeing the overgrown weeds on the brick patio, he opined that what I need is some weed killer.

I told him in shocked voice that Weed killer is POISON and I would never use that. My own DD8 spoke up and said it would kill the good bugs like nematodes. (Just to clarify, she's talking about the beneficial nematodes ).

[thanrose]

I actually have a ten year old nephew that still does not know that some vegetables come out of the ground, as in the sweet potatoes he likes. His parents do not want him to know because he'll refuse to eat them. He's growing up in truck farm country: South Jersey. Lives on eight acres with a family orchard. Won't eat any of the fruit from their vines and trees but the same stuff from a supermarket is okay. He's not a stupid child at all. Not top of the class, but quite capable of learning.

When he's visiting, I do a lot of nature teaching and learning: Feeding jumping spiders, catching lizards and toads, helping snappers off the roads, adding to the compost pile, and using a hand lens to look at pond water sorta thing.

[microcollie]

I've talked and talked and talked until I'm blue in the face to our local school board abvout teaching ecology-minded "earth science" classes, but to no avail. I've been told that the ideas of permaculture and sustainability and basically not killing our planet are a little too "non-mainstream" to be included in the public school curriculum in a community in which many families support themselves by farming. It seems to me that the only way to get anywhere with this is to get the impression across to the younger generations, but with the older generations holding control of their education, it's difficult. How do we go about making these ideas mainstream?

[kimbledawn]

I agree. The disconnect is scary My 14 year old told me that she stopped some boys from killing a lizard at school one day. She said that the girls stood on the sidelines watching as she picked it up and moved it away from the other students and proceeded to class. On the way the girls asked how she could touch that thing, and why did she care whether the boys killed it. My daughter replied,"My mother taught us to respect nature and all living things!" My heart grew two sizes listening to her tell me that story.

You should see visitors' faces when we have to usher spiders or crickets back outside because they are in the house!

[applestar]

Ah! It's such a relief to discuss this with folks who understand where I'm coming from! I can let the tension out of my shoulders and not stand ready to defend myself.

In case you haven't seen it, [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=163901#163901]this post[/url] is the origin of the thread title.

[rainbowgardener]

Most of our children these days are suffering from what has been called Nature Deficit Disorder, the consequences of that disconnect from dirt and everything natural and way too many hours sitting in front of screens instead of playing outside.


Here's a nice website about it, about what to do about it, how to work on re-connecting children to the natural world, the benefits of doing so, etc. It ought to be good ammunition for presenting to schools:

https://www.education.com/topic/nature-deficit-disorder/

Here's a quote from that site:

Researchers who have studied the relationship between children’s ability to focus and their exposure to nature through leisure activities found that children’s attentional functioning improves after play in green settings. In one study it was found that the greener an activity area, the better the children functioned, with attention deficit symptoms becoming less severe (Faber Taylor, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001).

[DoubleDogFarm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL7Caq1UJ2Y&feature=related

[gixxerific]

Good for you and you daughter.

My DD4 is more into it than my DS9. DD4 loves the garden and is the bug killer in the family (meaning she has to get the bugs my 9 yr old son is scared to death of). She mainly does the spiders and whatnot in the house. But she is good for the flies as well. She makes sure to check though that they are not bees "cause they pollinate the garden/flowers".

I had to actually tell my DD4 not to kill every bug she saw. I have been trying to teach her the good ones and bad ones. She used to squash everything and than play with them afterwards.

[Sage Hermit]

aww your children are sweeties. * cries*



How adorable that your daughter kills insects that your son is afraid of; that's darling. The Cavalry of almost ready.

[lily51]

As a high school science teacher, I saw this disconnect happen over the 30 years I taught, even though we live in an area of small towns with much nature in-between.

The parking lot was to be expanded into our "outdoor lab" area where I took my classes to do environmental lessons when I retired, as I was told no one would be taking students outside once I was gone. That's a school with 6 science teachers. Some people think that if there are no walls there's no learning .

There's even thought at college level of removing the "ology" classes such as ornithology, entomology, etc.

Have you read "Last Child in the Woods" that deals with all these issues and how much children gain from being in and learning about the natural world? I discussed my concern with the superintendent on this, suggesting this be a great book to read. He said, "What do you think I am, stupid?"

[ZGonso27]

It's very comforting to hear from parents and adults who are changing the world through their children. They are our greatest natural resource and with the rise of nature deficiency amongst youth, and even adults, it is frightening to think of the future generations inhabiting the world with little to no appreciation for the natural world that they are deeply a part of. Thank you to all of the parents who take the time and care to teach these values of nature to their children, you really do make a difference.



‎"We often forget that we ARE nature. Nature is not
something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our
connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves."- Author Unknown.

Zachary

[Gary350]

My neighbor said, why on earth would anyone want to grow a garden when you can buy vegatables in the grocery store.

I live in a good size town population 100,000.+ We have 4 high schools an only 1 school teaches and agriculture class. None of the schools have wood shop, metal shop, home making, or gym anymore. I guess they expect everyone to become a pencil pusher some day. No more manual labor for anyone. Lots of money wasted on sports that money could be better spent why does the tax payer have to pay for sports it has no educational value at all.

President Kennedy got the ball rolling with gym class in every school that lasted for about 30 years. It needs to start from the top maybe president obama can be encouraged to get the ball rolling.

Has anyone here every called in to talk on the G Gorden Liddy show. If a lot of people were to start calling in it might get something started and wake the country up. If this country ever gets into a war on your own soil most people in this country will be killing each other for food in 2 weeks.

Grow your own food, cut your own firewood, us solar and wind power. I drive around town pulling an empty trailer anytime I see a cut tree piled on the street I stop and load up. One mans trash is another mans treasure. Check craigslist for free stuff and if you have free stuff be sure to list it. If I see more firewood than I can pick up I get the address and list it on CL.