More and more contemporary research is identifying problems that arise from dissociation from nature while affirming wide-ranging benefits of outdoor education.

ISOLATION FROM NATURE

“As people spend more time communing with their televisions and computers, the impact is not just on their health, researchers say. Less time spent outdoors means less contact with nature and, eventually, less interest in conservation and parks.
Camping, fishing and per capita visits to parks are all declining in a shift away from nature-based recreation, researchers report in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
‘Declining nature participation has crucial implications for current conservation efforts," wrote co-authors Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic. "We think it probable than any major decline in the value placed on natural areas and experiences will greatly reduce the value people place on biodiversity conservation."
"The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children," Pergams said in a statement. "Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance."
Reported in AP February 5, 2008 By Randolph E. Schmid

Childhood and regular unsupervised play in the outdoor natural world is no longer synonymous. Pyle calls this the 'extinction of experience,' which breeds apathy towards environmental concerns. Kellert says society today has become "so estranged from its natural origins, it has failed to recognize our species’ basic dependence on nature as a condition of growth and development."
TV, nature documentaries, National Geographic and other nature TV channels and environmental fundraising appeals are conditioning children to think that nature is exotic, awe-inspiring and in far, far away places they will never experience. Children are losing the understanding that nature exists in their own backyards and neighborhoods, which further disconnects them from knowledge and appreciation of the natural world.
Randy White, “Young Children's Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children's Development & the Earth's Future”
available at http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/childrennature.shtml

Children get less than 20% of their environmental information from direct contact with nature.
National Wildlife Magazine  June/July 2006, p. 30

Federal conservation agencies predict “brain drain.”
As baby boomers move toward retirement, the stock of new conservationists simply may not be there. Enrollment in scattered ecology or environmental courses has increased or is stable, but there’s little evidence this approach leads to a sufficient number of career conservationists. Meanwhile, from 1980 to 2003, undergraduate enrollment in natural resource programs fell, according to research conducted at Utah State University. Interpreting hard statistics prior to 1980 is problematic, says Terry Sharik, a professor at Utah State's College of Natural Resources. But he estimates that if the '70s are factored in, enrollment may have decreased by half. Sharik points to decreased physical involvement of children in nature as one of the prime reasons for the potential brain drain.
excerpted from The Children and Nature Network: www.cnaturenet.org 2006

The problem with much environmental education is that it approaches education from an adult's, rather than a child's perspective. Children's curiosity with the natural world and unique way of knowing requires discovery and exploratory learning, rather than a didactic approach. One of the main problems with most environmental education is premature abstraction, teaching children too abstractly. One result of trying to teach children at too early of an age about abstract concepts like rainforest destruction, acid rain, ozone holes and whale hunting can be dissociation. When we ask children to deal with problems beyond their cognitive abilities, understanding and control, they can become anxious, tune out and develop a phobia to the issues. In the case of environmental issues, biophobia - a fear of the natural world and ecological problems - a fear of just being outside - can develop.
Randy White: http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/childrennature.shtml

Conservation groups focus more on nature-deficit disorder.
The National Audubon Society and regional Audubon groups are intensifying and expanding their already established efforts to build a network of nature centers across the country with a special focus on getting kids outside. The National Wildlife Federation is also framing more of its long-range planning around the necessity to get kids directly involved with nature. Among other efforts, NWF has launched “The Green Hour,” a national campaign to persuade parents to encourage their children to spend one hour a day in nature – whether that nature is found in a forest or as close as the back yard. The Sierra Club, among other environmental organizations, is also expanding its commitment to connecting kids to nature; “Bringing 10,000 kids into the woods by 2010.”
excerpted from The Children and Nature Network www.cnaturenet.org 2006

ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT

“… research reported in 2000 shows that proximity to, views of, and daily exposure to natural settings increases children’s ability to focus and therefore enhances cognitive abilities.”
Wells, N.M. “At Home with Nature: Effects of ‘Greenness’ on Children’s Cognitive Functioning.” Environment and Behavior. Vol. 32, No. 6, 775-795.

"California Student Assessment Project: The Effects of Environment-based Education on Student Achievement"
Students involved in the nature-based Environment as an Integrating Context program demonstrated better scores on standardized tests, reduced discipline and classroom management problems, increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning, and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments.”
reported in www.hookedonnature.org

“At Hotchkiss Elementary School in Dallas, passing rates of fourth-graders in an environment-based program surpassed by 13 percent those of students in an earlier, traditional class. The Texas Education Agency’s Division of Student Assessment called Hotchkiss’s gains ‘extremely significant’ when compared to the statewide average gain of 1 percent during the same period. Achievements in math are similar.”
David Sobel, Place Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities (The Orion Society and the Myrin Institute, 2004)
reported in Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods (Algonquian Books of Chapel Hill, 2005).  p. 205

MENTAL HEALTH/ BEHAVOIR

“The Parents were surveyed regarding their ADD-diagnosed child's attentional functioning after activities in several settings. Results indicate that children function better than usual after activities in green settings and that the "greener" a child's play area, the less severe his or her attention deficit symptoms.” University of Illinois, researchers Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances E. Kuo, and William C. Sullivan, 2001

Two surveys of parents of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder have shown that performing activities in green settings can reduce the symptoms of AD/HD. In an initial, Midwestern-based study, parents were more likely to nominate activities that typically occur in outdoor green settings as being best for their child’s symptoms and those that typically occur in indoor or non-green outdoor areas as worst. Also, parents rated their child’s symptoms as better on average after activities that occur in green settings than after activities in non-green settings. In the subsequent, nation-wide study, activities such as reading or playing sports were reported as improving children’s symptoms more when performed in outdoor green settings than in non-green settings.
Encouraging kids with AD/HD to go outside may help supplement established treatments to improve functioning.
Faber Taylor, A., Kuo, F.E., & Sullivan, W.C. (2001). “Coping with ADD: The surprising connection to green play settings.” Environment and Behavior, 33(1), 54-77.
Kuo, F.E., & Faber Taylor, A. (2004). “A potential natural treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a national study.” American Journal of Public Health, 94(9), 1580-1586.

“Based on previous studies, we can definitely say that the best predictor of preschool children’s physical activity is simply being outdoors,” says Sallis, “and that an indoor, sedentary childhood is linked to mental-health problems.”
Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods (Algonquian Books of Chapel Hill, 2005) p. 32.

“Little Falls High School in Little Falls, Minnesota reported that students in the environment-based program had 54 percent fewer suspensions than other ninth-graders. At Hotchkiss Elementary, teachers had once made 560 disciplinary referrals to the principal’s office in a single year. Two years later, as the environment-based program kicked into gear, the number dropped to 50. ‘Both the principal and teachers attribute these decreases in behavioral problems to students’ increased engagement in learning,’ according to Lieberman.”
Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods (Algonquian Books of Chapel Hill, 2005) p. 206