By Mamata Pandya
This article highlights current research findings from the environmental health, environmental education, and environmental psychology fields regarding the importance of childhood exposure to nature. It also summarizes the few studies that have examined class- and race-based inequalities in children’s exposure to the natural world and industrial environmental hazards. The article also reviews the limited number of studies that ask whether poor and minority children have fewer nature experiences and less access to nature than do white and non poor children.
The authors quote studies that suggest that, regardless of race and socio-economic status, natural settings close to home and school can have profound effects on children’s cognitive and motor functioning. The findings suggest that the restorative effects of nature are not limited to children from middle- and upper-income families. Across all populations, access to nature appears to positively influence children’s academic performance, over and above improving cognitive functioning and motor coordination. The paper also cites numerous studies that a strong relationship exists between youth exposure to nature and improved cognitive functioning, reduced stress levels, increased interaction with adults, and improved social skills, all of which should have a strong link with improved academic performance.
In sum, the article concludes that environmental health, environmental education, and environmental psychology literatures suggest that access and exposure to, and play in, nature can have profound positive effects on children’s emotional, physical, and psychological development and well-being. Moreover, positive experiences in nature are likely to affect children’s future relationships with the natural world and instill a greater sense of environmental concern for generations to come.
Strife, Susan and Downey, Liam. 2009. Childhood Development and Access to Nature: A New Direction for Environmental Inequality Research. Organization & Environment 22 (1): 99-122.