Hello fellow Kossacks,
I'm posting this here today because I know what this website can accomplish when it gets behind a good cause. Whether it is supporting netroots candidates, righting the wrongs of the corporate media or simply catching the Bush administration in a lie (too easy), this community is willing to stand up and do the right thing more often than not.
We at the National Wildlife Federation need your help to ensure that environmental education is included in the next version of No Child Left Behind. Our children are losing out on the American tradition of growing up with nature, and that is just not cool.
Join me on the flip to learn more and find out how you can help us stop nature deficit disorder and make sure No Child is Left Inside. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Josh Nelson
Online Grassroots Coordinator
National Wildlife Federation
Originally posted at Wildlife Promise.
The Problem:
According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation:
A recent study found that children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV but less than 4 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play, leading researchers to discover a new condition specific to this current generation that they have called "nature deficit disorder". This extreme emphasis of indoor time spent in front of screens versus outdoor play and discovery has been correlated with negative psychological and physical effects including obesity, loneliness, depression, attention problems and greater social isolation due to reduced time with friends and family.
Our children deserve much better.
An unintended consequence of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emphasis on math and reading is that more and more schools are leaving environmental education behind. Many schools have abandoned environmental education programs to invest more time and resources in math and reading instruction.
The Solution:
Fortunately, a new bill in Congress seeks to address this. The No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 amends the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) in the following ways:
- Provides federal funding to states to train teachers in environmental education and to operate model environmental education programs, which include outdoor learning.
- Provides funding to states that create environmental literacy plans to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate.
- Provides funding through an environmental education grant program to build state and national capacity.
- Re-establishes the Office of Environmental Education within the U.S. Department of Education.
These measures will go a long way toward giving environmental education the standing and attention it deserves in our schools.
What you can do to help:
1. Urge Congress to PASS the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 (H.R. 3036 / S. 1981):
2. Email your friends and let them know about the lack of environmental education our children are receiving. Be sure to give them the link to write their congressmen.
3. Recommend this diary. Blog about it. Spread the word!
Additional Resources:
Media Use and Obesity among Children
Effects of TV on Kids becoming Less Remote
Do Today's Kids Have Nature Deficit Disorder?
Images courtesy of Charlie Archambault