Nature-Deficit Disorder: Do You Have It?

Take the Nature-Deficit Disorder Survey Here 

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has coined the term "nature-deficit disorder." In April 2005, The New York Times published an article describing Louv's concern that children these days are Growing Up Denatured. To find out if his students were experiencing "nature-deficit disorder," Dave Wood, an 8th grade teacher at National EE Week partner Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C., compiled the following survey and asked his students to take it after reading the article Growing Up Denatured. You can try this in your school. Have your students read the two-page review and then set them loose to interview their parents and guardians.

Click here to order Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

Nature-Deficit Disorder Survey  

Teachers - Have your students read The New York Times article Growing Up Denatured.

Then have your students interview their parents and/or guardians.

Have them fill out the following survey as either homework or as a classroom exercise. National EE Week organizers will compile the data and share the results!

Nature Deficit Disorder Questions  
Please take time to interview your parent(s)/guardian(s) using the questions in the table below as a guide. If you can talk to more than one adult, it would be helpful.

Ask your parents/guardians if they (the adults) spent more time, less time, or about the same amount of time as you doing the following activities as a child:

What grade are you in?
Amount of Time Spent Indoors
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
Amount of Time Spent Outdoors
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
Time spent in adult-sanctioned activities (e.g. classes, scouts) and sports (e.g. Little League, soccer league)
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
Time spent inventing outdoor games, making forts, etc.
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
Time spent being chauffeured in a car.
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
Time spent observing nature. (walking in the woods, going to nature preserves, hiking, etc.)
Much More Time More Time The Same Amount of Time Less Time Much Less Time
If the adults you interviewed spent more time in free play and time outdoors than you, ask whether they valuted these things and why. Summarize here:
Having read this article, would you describe yourself as a person who experiences nature-deficit disorder? Explain:
Do you feel that most of your peers experience nature-deficit disorder or not? Explain:
Do you think that nature-deficit disorder is something we should be concerned with? Why or why not?