Environmental Credo

Donelda Rudd

Professor Stetzel

October 7, 2008

Abstract

“They do not intend to be the last children in the woods” (Louv, 2006) this was the very first sentence in the book that really made me stop and think. Louv is talking about how young adults have had just enough taste of nature as a child, that as adults we need to dosomething to save the nature that is left. It is imperative that we need to live green. What does living green mean? To me this means living smarter, we know that there is evidence that our actions will effect more than just our generation. I believe it is our responsible to ourselves and to the future.

Environmental Credo

I was fortunate to grow up with an emphasison the value of the earth. We should treat nature with respect and a kind of reverence. This attitude has given me a stronger conviction on how I want to live today. I love the saying “I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one. - Edna St. Vincent Millay”this quote simplystates how you can enjoy nature withoutdestroying it. One of my favorite family vacations was at Spring Mills in southern Indiana. This is an inn in the middle of the woods surrounded by nature. The visitors are there to reconnect withnature, the peace one finds while walking within the arms of nature is purifying. I feel that if people would use nature’s tranquility to cleanse one’s inner self, we wouldn’t have so many people on anti-depressant drugs and with weight problems. ”A 2003 survey, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, found the rate at which American children are prescribed antidepressants almost doubled in five years; the steepest increase-66 percent- was among preschool children.” (Louv, 2006)

I committed to teaching because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of our future generations.Some of my students will come from family’s that haven’t given any thought about their part in saving the earth. This is where I can use my job to help educate them how they can do their part. I want my students to be able to go home with their passion of “green” and pass that on to their families. It is my goal to make learning about nature fun. My students will learn that their role in our plants future is serious but they can enjoy the journey.

“When Nature Becomes the Bogeyman- Stranger danger isn’t the only reason families draw the boundaries of children’s life tighter. Children and adults are even beginning to see nature as our natural enemy-a bogeyman, a stand in for other, less identifiable reasons for fear.”(Louv, 2006) As educators we need to instill in our students and their parents that there is no need to exile nature, just because you think it’s dangerous. People really need to be more educated on environmental issues to help stop the bogeyman syndrome.

Reading the Last Child in the Woods really opened my eyes up to how people view our environment. I thought more people felt as I did about nature and its role in today and in the future. The book made me realize that I have to walk the talk before it’s too late. Through my teaching I will be able to touch many students and with the education I can give them it may become contagious in their lives. I can only imagine that through education our future world will be a brighter place.

Bibliography

Louv, R. (2006). Last Child in the Woods. Chspel Hill,NC: Algonquin Books.