Children in urban areas need to be reintroduced to nature

Children in urban areas need to be reintroduced to nature

Paramita Atmodiwirjo and Yandi Andri Yatmo, Jakarta

If you ask an elementary school pupil in Jakarta where
tomatoes come from, do not be surprised if he replies "From the
supermarket". Not many of our children really know that tomatoes,
and other fruits and vegetables, are the results of the hard work
of farmers. Not many of them are aware that the tomatoes they
have on their dining tables have gone through a long process
starting with the seeds, before being ready to eat.

It is inevitable that children in big cities nowadays have few
opportunities for getting in touch with nature. In Jakarta, the
total area of green spaces has been dramatically reduced to only
nine percent of the city's area. On the other hand, a countless
number of shopping malls have been built all over the city.

Children's life space is now confined to the shrinking realms
of home, school and malls. Their day begins with an early morning
journey to school, riding in a car through city streets congested
with vehicles and people. After-school hours are spent on English
courses, music lessons, watching television or sitting in front
of the computer. Outdoor activities, if any at all, are limited
to playing on the streets or in the playground, the number of
which is gradually diminishing in our cities. Shopping malls with
eating and play facilities have become the main destinations for
weekend family leisure.

The lives of city children are being stuffed full of man-made
objects and materials that result from advances in technology.
For these children, the natural world that they are familiar with
consists only of the city parks with trees that they see through
car windows, the stories about farmers that they read in school
textbooks, and the playground, with its swings and slides, in
their housing complex.

The children who live in our cities are fortunate enough to
enjoy modern facilities. They are familiar with the latest fads
in clothing, food and toys. Their knowledge of technology is
comparable to their peers in the developed countries. Internet
surfing has become a part of their daily lives, and often they
are even more computer savvy than their parents.

However, there is one thing that city children miss. These
children no longer have first-hand experiences with the richness
of nature. They do not enjoy the experiences in this regard of
their peers in rural areas, far from urban modernity and
technology. Rural children walk to school every morning through
rice fields, plantations and forests. They play freely in open
natural spaces, without any fear of vehicles. They climb tall
trees, pick fruit directly, and slice sugarcane to suck out its
sweet sap.

These children create their own toys from nature. They build
houses in the tops of trees, or in the middle of plantations,
with cassava stalks as the columns and leaves as the roof. They
make toy horses, toy guns and boats from banana stems, cars from
grapefruit skins, and spinning tops from rubber kernels and
bamboo chips. They play with soil, sand and mud, digging tunnels
and making hills. They draw on the sand in front of their homes.
And, of course, they do know where tomatoes come from, and they
know precisely how to plant and take care of these plants.

These children do not need to be taught the meaning of nature
for human life. They live with nature; they enjoy, utilize and
care for nature. These children really understand the meaning of
sustainability.

For children in the cities who do not possess such
opportunities, it has become necessary to bring nature back into
their daily lives. Otherwise, they will grow up as a generation
that treats nature as alien. Everything will become artificial
and their lives will become orientated to man-made objects alone.

Children need to be brought back to nature from an their early
age. An initiative by the local government in Sheffield, United
Kingdom provides a good example of how nature can be introduced
to young children. The children participate in a series of
activities called Ranger Events, which include weekend walks
through woodlands and parks, watching and feeding birds, learning
about flowers, fruits and fungus, and making handicraft objects
from natural materials. Sometimes they just clean parks together.
These events take part in various green spaces around the city,
and are designed in such a way that the whole family can
participate.

Of course, when there are no such organized activities
available, we can also start the effort in our own homes. A piece
of green space in the backyard, no matter how small, can become a
resource for children to learn about nature. The backyard should
not only be a place to plant beautiful flowers for visual
enjoyment, but should also be a place where children can touch
and feel nature.

Children need to be introduced to the richness of the natural
world as part of their development. Playing in the garden with
the soil, water and sand is no less fun than playing computer
games. These natural objects offer stimuli that are important for
sensory development and creativity. The children can create their
own toys with the materials that are available in their
surrounding. They need to understand that there are always
alternatives for toys; toys do not always have to be new, bought
in the shop, sophisticated, modern and made of plastic.

The role of parents is also very important. Bringing our
children back to nature means allowing them to get their hands
dirty. Parents could organize family activities such as planting
spring onions and spinach, and watering and taking care of them,
until they are ready to be picked and put in the cooking pot.
When this happens, we can be sure that our children will know
where tomatoes come from.

The writers are lecturers in architecture of the University of
Indonesia, and have a particular interest in children's
environments.