Email this article to a friend

Printable Version

Articles Related to This Article: • BBC Blasted for Refusing to Air Plea for Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Victims • The BBC Abandons Its Complementary Medicine Website Due to Pressure • Vaccines and Medical Experiments on Children, Minorities, Woman and Inmates (1845 - 2007) Support NaturalNews advertisers - Advertise with NaturalNews Nutrition Can Save America! FREE report by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reveals why nutritional deficiencies are destroying America's health and economy... and how to restore America's future with real food.

(NaturalNews) British children are so out of touch with the natural world that they are no longer able to identify common species of plants and animals, according to a survey conducted by BBC Wildlife Magazine.

The results "reinforce the idea that many children don't spend enough time playing in the green outdoors and enjoying wildlife - something older generations might have taken for granted," said the magazine's Fergus Collins.

Seven hundred children between the ages of 9 and 11 were asked to identify various plants and animals from pictures. Just over 50 percent were able to identify a bluebell, with many mistaking the plant for lavender. Only 54 percent were able to identify a blue tit, and only 45 percent knew what an oak tree was. Forty-two percent correctly identified a newt, with many mistaking it for a lizard, and just 12 percent could identify a primrose. Many children mistook a deer for an antelope.

The children performed slightly better at identifying frogs, with a 62 percent success rate, while 90 and 95 percent could identify badgers and robins, respectively.

The survey also found that playing in the countryside ranked dead last among children's preferred ways of spending leisure time. Going for a walk or playing outside both ranked lower than playing on the computer or seeing friends.

Sir David Attenborough warned that the findings have dire implications for the future of the environment.

"The wild world is becoming so remote to children that they miss out," he said, "and an interest in the natural world doesn't grow as it should. Nobody is going protect the natural world unless they understand it."
.
Experts said that overprotective parents are partially to blame for the results, but so are conservationists, who are often afraid that children will damage nature.

"Environmental sensitivities should not be prioritized over children," said Martin Maudsley of the University of Gloucestershire. "Play is the primary mechanism through which children engage and connect with the world, and natural environments are particularly attractive, inspiring and satisfying for kids. Something magical occurs when children and wild spaces mix."

Sources for this story include: www.independent.co.uk.

Share

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:

Related Articles: • BBC Blasted for Refusing to Air Plea for Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Victims • The BBC Abandons Its Complementary Medicine Website Due to Pressure • Vaccines and Medical Experiments on Children, Minorities, Woman and Inmates (1845 - 2007)	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/025064_BBC_natural_health_renewable_energy.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/025064_BBC_natural_health_renewable_energy.html">Kids Wildly Out of Touch with Natural World, BBC Survey Reveals</a>