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Kids and Stewardship

 Amy Martin, on twitter asked if there were good articles available about kids, free play, and young people servivng as stewards of the outdoors



Which kind of rocked for me, because it was an excuse to go look for things on Google Scholar. The kids heard me exclaim, "Thank God! A rabbit hole!!!"

A few minutes later, I'd come up with an interesting article suggesting how kids might be made into better stewards, educated to be stewards, if you will. While I take umbrage with the article's insistence  that kids  must be taught a thing before they can do it—and yes, oh yes, I will write more about that  later—I was heartened by the sheer bulk of references, and by a suggestion in the conclusions… The authors reported,

“Research  has  substantiated  that  an empathy  with  and love  of  nature,  along  with  later positive  environmental behaviors  and attitudes,  grow  out  of  children’s  regular contact with  and play  in the  natural world. “

I too, believe this is true, but you know what? I also think it’s true for our communities. How much better might our government, and community involvement be if kids were exposed to the cities they lived in every day? And just to be clear, I don’t mean  exposed as in ‘a teacher taught me stuff’, I mean exposed in the exact way that the article’s authors stated. Kids should be exposed to their communities by being in their communities. 

By walking around, outside the school building, kids find out what their  community has to offer them, who the people are that inhabit it, and what the  kids, themselves can offer back to their  communities. 

Having the teacher explain to you that there is a Board of Supervisors is one thing. Finding out that those same people are about to wreck your favorite playground—from the kids perspective—by replacing the equipment just so they can claim ‘Progress!’ in their next election campaign, is quit another. Attending the planning committee  meeting is yet another thing again. 

Hearing that ‘homelessness is a nation-wide issue of some concern’ is one thing. Being around  homelessness is another. Finding out that your city’s Mayor has no desire to help is quite another thing indeed.

So, in the new year, don’t fight to get kids back into school buildings, fight to get them out, and then, maybe, they’ll fight to get society the rest of the things it needs!



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