Challenge for Youth Education

The Challenge

In Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder, Richard Louv examines the ever-widening gulf between children and nature in our society. Louv issues a wake-up call to parents, educators and all those concerned about children’s well-being to reestablish the critical link between children and nature. Who will be the future stewards of our environment if this link is not forged? Louv suggests that “birding could be an especially wonderful way to experience nature.”
 
In the last chapter of Cornell University’s Handbook of Bird Biology, John W. Fitzpatrick challenges us to develop in youth a sense of stewardship of the earth: “One of the best ways to help tomorrow’s generation accept responsible land stewardship is to share one’s own knowledge and passion with the children of today. Kids have an enormous capacity to enjoy nature in the company of adults or other kids who love it. Lifelong sympathy and curiosity often can be sparked by the smallest events, and among the most memorable is the singular thrill of seeing a beautiful bird through binoculars or a telescope for the first time.

Seeing birds well, in real life, and being able to look back and forth between the bird and the pictures in a field guide, can open a child’s mind to a lifelong appreciation of diversity and beauty in nature. This is the first and most important step that any individual can take toward recognizing the need to conserve such wonderful things.”

We Accept the Challenge

The Eastside Audubon Youth Education Committee has accepted this challenge.  Its volunteers believe that children who learn about birds and the environment at an early age are more likely to become adult stewards of the environment.  Members are dedicated to fostering an appreciation of fauna and flora in all students.

For more information or to help out, contact: education@eastsideaudubon.com