Nature Defecit Disorder: How it helps

     In society today, more children are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder. These children have a hard time "concentrating in school, restless, hard time focusing on tasks, may be aggressive, antisocial, and suffer academic failure"(Louv, p.3). To help these kids, they are usually prescribed medications like Ritalin or Dexedrine, but most parents do not want to put their child on medication. A lot of parents have, and some see a decrease in their ADHD or ADD behaviors, while some do not see any change while on these drugs.

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     Louv describes a movement, where children suffering from these diagnoses are excelling when they interact with nature. "Even without corroborating evidence or institutional help, many parents notice significant changes in their children's stress levels and hyperactivity when they spend time outside"(Louv, p.4).By being in nature, their brain is being stimulated in a positive way, and they are able to expel their energy. By being at parks or playing at recess, children are able to come back home with less energy, and are able to concentrate and sit still. But, with schools becoming more institutionalized, they cut out the time set aside for recess or Physical Education. We have to use all that time for learning math and science, not playing outside. In schools, they could create a sustainable garden that students can take care of during their time outdoors, or play like regular children.

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     By interacting in nature, these children are forever changed. Some had never been outside of the suburbs of their cities, but they fell in love with the outdoors. Louv describes a group of teenagers on probation, that were taken on a trip to Ketchikan, Alaska. These juveniles lived on an island in the Alaskan wilderness, and were exposed to all types of wildlife and different aspects of nature. Some had never seen a bear, and when they saw one they were not afraid. "I never saw a bear before. I'm scared of bears, but when I saw them, I had no stress. I was calm, free."(Louv, p.13) They also had to find their own food by scouting out the woods, or fishing of the shores. When they had to leave, mostly everyone did not want to. They wanted to stay with the tribe in the wilderness instead of going back to their homes and friends.

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     Children need to be exposed to nature and be able to go outside and play, to create a bond with the world. If they do not, they will not want to protect the world and all the different types of ecosystems out there. Children with hyperactivity and focusing issues, need to release energy throughout the school day so they can learn and not distract their other classmates. By disrupting their classmates, they might be punished and eventually end up with a criminal records, as they were never able to control their sudden outbursts. Even if a child can go outside and play at a local park, that is better than nothing.

Works Cited

Louv, R. (2011). Excerpt from Last Child in the Woods: Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment. In Universtiy Colloquium: A Sustanible Future (pp.1-14). Acton, MA: XanEdu Publishing

Biophobia and Biophilia: Two kinds of people

     In the natural sciences, emphasis is always placed on hydrophobic and hydrophilic atoms and elements. In a cell, the cell membrane is composed of hydrophobic tails, and hydrophilic heads. The tails hate water, whereas the heads love water. This applies to biophobia and biophilia. People who are biophobic do not like nature, while biophilic people love to be outside exploring. "Biophobia ranges from discomfort in natural places to active scorn for whatever is not manmade, managed, or air-conditioned, and it is the urge to affiliate with technology, human artifacts, and solely with human interest regarding the natural world" (University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future, 2011, pg.186-187).

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     In Love It or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution, Orr describes a world where there is no natural nature, it is all fabricated by technology, and people want to go to space to live. These biophobic people want to create and be surrounded by nature that is not real. The nature is all fabricated. Orr also states that we need to decide to "be biophobic or biophilic because science and technology have given us the power to destroy so completely as well as the knowledge to understand the consequences of doing so"(University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future, 2011, p.188). Since biophobic people are deciding to destroy nature, we need to come up with ways of sustainability, and ideas on how we can save the Earth. By saving the Earth, biophobic people might start to realize the need to save the forests and oceans, and become nature lovers. We need to create sustainable farming, energy, factories, etc., so more forests do not have to be cut down. By having health nature all around us, more people will switch to biophilic, nature lovers, and want to save the Earth. If we do not save the Earth, we will be visiting trees that were reproduced, and live in a museum or greenhouse, and have to pay a fortune to visit. Right now, in most places you can walk outside and see a tree or flower. If we do not start now, we will be living in a world with "fabricated life on Earth, molecular machines, and controlling nature"(University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future, 2011, p.189).

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     Orr describes another phenomena, topophilia. This phenomena "includes all of the human being's affective ties with the material environment"(University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future, 2011, p.194). What this is describing is, you have a greater connection to a place that you are familiar with, and have a genuine connection to take care of it, and be a part of that place. For example, if you grow up in New York City, you are used to the busy streets, skyscrapers, people, and the occasional tree and bush. If you live in the prairies, you feel a connection to the animals, lakes, and mountains. Some people who live in the city can love nature, and people out in the country can hate it, but you get to decide if you want to be biophilic or biophobic. Either way, both sides need to come together to save this one Earth for everyone to enjoy. 

Works Cited

Orr, D.(2011). Excerpt from Love it or lose it: The coming biophilia revolution. In University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. (pp.186-211). Acton, MA: XanEdu Publishing