News-Record.com

A national movement to reconnect today's youth with nature has picked up steam with multi-state "Take A Child Outside" initiatives and the recent U.S. House passage of the No Child Left Inside Act.

Question is, will local children get to play outside on a regular basis after the class field trips and organized nature events are over?

Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods," told a crowd of about 300 people at Greensboro Montessori School on Thursday that he longs for cultural and political change that keeps this back to nature movement from becoming another fad. His presentation and book signing was part of a week of events that sought to get children and their families outdoors.

"Our children have a fundamental right to that place in their hearts," Louv said. "When we cut that away from them we cut away a part of their humanity."

Louv then described his three-ring theory of cultural change, starting with program, then volunteers and last family or neighborhood-initiated activities. He said programs can fall victim to budget cuts and competition and volunteers can suffer from a lack of organization.

"What if an idea like that could catch on like neighborhood watches and block parties did in past decades?" Louv said.

He referred to examples of citizens taking it into their own hands to reconnect with nature, including Geeks in the Woods and a youth nature club called -- what else? -- "Girls Gone Wild."

It will be interesting to see what springs up in Greensboro and beyond. Perhaps I'll drive through neighborhoods and see more children climbing trees or playing in ravines. Or maybe I will overhear parents say they pulled their children out of formal extracurriculars to give them time for unstructured play. Any maybe I'll learn the joys of nature play myself so that I may establish a foundation for my infant daughter.