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Check out this video of an art project that students at the Canterbury School in Greensboro worked on for Earth Day with artist in residence, Bryant Holsenbeck. The video was done by former student and now UNCG graduate student Jessica Fuller.

Recycled Rainforest from Jessica Fuller on Vimeo.

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.

President Bush and many educators have worked over the past several years to close the academic achievement gap between groups of students. Should his educational legacy also include closing the nature gap as well?

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is gathering support for the No Child Left Inside Act, a federal bill that would offer states incentives to develop Environmental Literacy Plans and integrate environmental education across K-12 curricula. The No Child Left Inside Act aims to ensure that schools have the resources and training necessary to help the next generation understand and address the challenges of protecting the environment.

Connecting children with nature is a goal that is beginning to gain steam here in Greensboro. Last Saturday, about 30 people viewed a documentary at The HIVE in Glenwood about the disconnect between today's generation of children and nature and unstructured play.

Given that No Child Left Behind has been underfunded since its inception and criticized for faulty implementation, I'm not sure another federal law is the best approach toward this issue. However, a healthy dialogue about the children's lack of exposure to the outdoors is needed.

The Fund for Democratic Communities and the Greensboro Montessori School will co-sponsor a screening of the new PBS documentary "Where Do the Children Play?" at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 28 at the HIVE, 1214 Grove Street. 

    The film examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators, and environmentalists that today's children have little or no opportunity for unstructured play, especially outdoors:

“When you think about it, for tens of thousands of years children spent much of their childhood playing or working in natural settings,” says Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods," and one of the experts who appears in the film.  “Within the space of two or three decades in Western society, particularly in the United States, that's in danger of ending. This is a radical change in a very short period of time. It's got to have important, perhaps profound implications for mental health, physical health, and spiritual health -- for who we are.”

    The film screening is the initial event in a year-long community discussion about the state of childhood and play in Greensboro.  Louv will be at the Greensboro Montessori School on Sept. 25 for a talk and book signing.

    WHAT: Screening of the PBS documentary "Where Do the Children Play?"
    WHEN:  Saturday, June 28, 6 p.m.
    WHERE:  The HIVE, 1214 Grove Street
   
FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Muktha Jost, 549-0733, mjost@ncat.edu