Kids living the dream

Thank you to Mike Vandeman PhD for his response to my blog 'Getting to Vancouver' (see below) in relation to Richard Louv's book - I urge you to read his comments (and if anyone knows how an inexperienced blogger can make those comments appear on the blog I would appreciate your advice).

My aspiration for this blog is for it to be a place for you to contribute your views. I don't pretend to bring any particular expertise to the table - but what I do have in my role as Executive Officer of the Australian Camps Association is access to, and time with, a significant number of people who have extensive experience in the camps sector. If I bring any skill to this task it is the ability to share their knowledge with you.

In essence I hope that you can contribute to my education by sharing your thoughts with me.

In response to Mike's comments - my view of Richard Louv's book (so far at least) is that he is not trying to suggest that if we expose young people to nature we will turn them into environmentalists. I think he is saying that if we expose our young people to nature then they will be healthier - both physically and mentally.

Yes, they might still go on to be property developers - but hopefully if they do they will be property developers with a better understanding and appreciation of the natural environment - and they will be better and healthier human beings for having had that experience in nature.

One of the things we have done in Australia recently was to get together with a number of similar organisations to commission a literature search into the benefits of camps and outdoor activities - one of the findings of that research was that just being in nature was not enough to build a better appreciation and understanding of nature - to do that requires programs that deliberately focus on building that understanding and appreciation.

But I think I saw what Richard Louv is talking about in his book today when I was walking around Stanley Park in Vancouver. I passed 3 young boys on the beach playing an imaginary game with some plastic toys. At first I walked right by them - but then I remembered my previous commitment on this blog to be 'in the moment' on this trip rather than simply being a passerby. So I went back to talk to their mum and to ask her permission to take their photo.

Her view, and that of her friend, was that kids today are so overprotected that they do not get opportunities to explore and play make believe games. The boys in this photo, however, were so intensely involved in their make believe game that they didn't even notice me taking their photo. I think this kind of play is what Richard would like to see more of - and on that issue I agree wholeheartedly.