Mucking In With Nature?

Lucy Jones and Kenneth Greenway (authors) make important points about the need to reconnect young children in the UK, to the natural world (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/22/children-natural-world-protect-earth). Jones and Greenway point out that you can hardly expect children to be concerned about the failure of migratory swifts to appear, if they don't know what a swift is. These authors also extol the physical and mental health benefits of having an interest in nature. Jones and Greenway note, for example, that children in Tower hamlets (London) have a fraction of the lung capacity of their counterparts in other areas of the country. They say that many schools (even in London), do not have a place for natural history within easy walking distance. They also note that teachers are rarely provided with encouragement or finance to rectify this. I would argue that it is possible, with a little ingenuity and modest finance, to create 'wild places' in the most apparently unpromising inner city areas. It is, however, necessary for parents to change their mindset. Risk and dirt aversions often prevent such developments (or even teachers utilising the local park). Jones and Greenway comment on the accepted view that young children should not be exposed to issues like climate change before they attain a degree of maturity. I understand the point. You want contact with nature to be a positive thing. I think, however, it will be difficult to keep these problems from some enquiring, young minds. Having said that, it is certainly not an argument for limiting contact with the natural world.