New study offers recommendations for kids to once again connect with the outdoors
The emotional connection to nature that kids feel is declining with each generation thanks in large part to their increasing use of digital media. Instead of trying to fight this trend, known as Videophilia, researchers say it’s time to use it to help kids find their way back to nature.
A new study from the University of Waterloo offers recommendations on how to help children whose lives are dominated by screen time to once again connect with the outdoors.
“The trend toward screen time and away from outdoor play is concerning given that directly experiencing nature is positively linked to wellbeing and environmentalism,” said Rachael Edwards, a PhD-candidate in the School of Planning and the lead researcher on the study. “It’s naïve to think that extensive screen-time is going anywhere. Instead of seeing digital media and nature-based play in competition, we’ve examined how environmental organizations can work with this widespread interest in digital media to engage a wider audience.”
The study draws on a wide range of literature and focuses on how nature-based programs can engage children with little prior interest in the outdoors.
“Past generations tended to have more freedom to use their imaginations when outdoors and technology did not compete in the same way for their attention as today,” said Professor Brendon Larson of the Faculty of Environment, co-lead on the new research. “Nature organizations that continue to employ romanticized ideals of children in nature will likely fail to engage a large proportion of young people and continue to primarily 'preach to the converted'.”
The recommendations include integrating gamification techniques and technology-enhanced learning and involving entire families in environmental programming.
“Failing to account for children’s level of comfort in natural environments and the dominant role that technology plays in their lives could make children resent being outdoors. For children to understand the natural world and help protect it, we need to adapt how we introduce them to nature based on their previous experiences and other interests, including technology,” said Larson.
For Edwards and Larson this includes selecting settings that are unintimidating and familiar such as schoolyards, turning nature exploration into a game through activities like geocaching, and mediating human-nature contact through technology like species identification apps.
Edwards’ and Larson’s paper, When screens replace backyards: Strategies to connect digital-media-oriented young people to nature, was published in the journal, Environmental Education Research.
