Love It before You Know It

David Sobel's "Beyond Ecophobia" (pages 181-193) begins the Reverence section of The Future of Nature.

It's hard to disagree with what he's saying, but let's be careful. He seems to suggest that we should insulate kids from the realities of the big bad world, and I guess I disagree.

I do agree that it's important to get kids outside, to give them an appreciation for nature before asking them to "save" the world; but I don't think it's necessarily an either/or question. And really, neither does Sobel.

When I attended grade school in the early 1980s, I distinctly remember a lack of science in the curriculum. We would do Math, Reading, and social sciences every day, but we only did science once a week. Is this because our tiny little minds couldn't handle science? Couldn't handle theories and so on?

Sobel also warns about "curricular brainwashing." What is that? When does something move beyond education to brainwashing? When does something become "activism"? And when do kids lose the ability to choose and decide for themselves?

All important questions, and this is a good article to help get the discussion started.