Quotessence
Home / Books / Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Book by Richard Louv · 8 quotes · Nature, Children, Play

Filter quotes by topic

AllNatureChildrenPlayWorldNaturalSensesNeedsEnvironmentParentStudyAdultsCommunityIfsJoyMayPossibilityStudentsYoungDevelopmentDoe

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder Quotes

“Nature-the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful-offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young with something so much greater than they are; it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity.”

BeautifulYoungGamesNatureCommunityEnvironmentGreaterStreetsOffersComputerEternityInfinityContemplatingHarshSublimeComputer GamesGated Communities
Book:Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Create image

“She was one of those exceptional children who do still spend time outside, in solitude. In her case nature represented beauty - and refuge. "It's so peaceful out there and the air smells so good. I mean, it's polluted, but not as much as the city air. For me, it's completely different there," she said. "It's like you're free when you go out there. It's your own time. Sometimes I go there when I'm mad - and then, just with the peacefulness, I'm better. I can come back home happy, and my mom doesn't even know why." The she described her special part of the woods. "I had a place. There was a big waterfall and a creek on one side of it. I'd dug a big hole there, and sometimes I'd take a tent back there, or a blanket, and just lie down in the hole, and look up at the trees and sky. Sometimes I'd fall asleep back there. I just felt free; it was like my place, and I could do what I wanted, with nobody to stop me. I used to go down there almost every day." The young poet's face flushed. Her voice thickened. "And then they just cut the woods down. It was like they cut down part of me.”

ChildrenNatureEnviroment
Book:Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Create image

“Parents are told to turn off the TV and restrict video game time, but we hear little about what the kids should do physically during their non-electronic time. The usual suggestion is organized sports. But consider this: The obesity epidemic coincides with the greatest increase in organized children's sports in history.”

ObesitySedentaryYouth SportsScreen
Book:Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Create image

“A generation of children is not only being raised indoors, but is being confined to even smaller spaces. Jane Clark, a University of Maryland professor of kinesiology . . . calls them "containerized kids"--they spend more and more time in car seats, high chairs, and even baby seats for watching TV. When small children go outside, they're often placed in containers--strollers--and pushed by walking or jogging parents. . . Most kid-containerizing is done for safety concerns, but the long term health of these children is compromised. (35)”

ChildrenPlayParentingConfinementSedentary
Book:Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Create image

“Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illness. This disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities.”

NatureNature And ManNature Deficit Disorder
Book:Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Create image