Youth day in Los Angeles: connecting youth and nature with technology

Abstract

In a statewide survey in Oregon, parents indicated how much time their child spent outdoors relative to their own outdoor childhood experiences. The results indicated children spent as much time as their parents did as children in structured outdoor activities (such as organized sports), but they spent much less time than their parents did as children in outdoor chores and outdoor play (Lindberg 2007). The same study found that outdoor skills have changed over the generations, with younger generations having fewer nature-based outdoor skills (such as pitching a tent or cooking outdoors) in comparison to their parents as children (Lindberg 2007). Louv (2005) also suggests that children today suffer from a nature-deficit disorder. His thesis was that children deprived of the spiritual, emotional, and psychological benefits of exposure to nature are more prone to depression and attention disorders, and miss out on improved cognitive development, creativity, and cooperative play. What can be done to change that trend? This paper reports findings from an exploratory research effort examining whether children's outdoor activity could be increased or enhanced by the infusion of technology into outdoor activities.

Citation

Chavez, Deborah J. 2009. Youth day in Los Angeles: connecting youth and nature with technology. 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences. Honolulu, HI; June 4-7. p. 284-293.