No Child Left Inside (movement)

The No Child Left Inside movement in the United States seeks to encourage and provide funding for environmental education.^[1] Its stated goals include the enhancement of environmental literacy between kindergarten and 12th grade and fostering of understanding, analysis, and solutions to environmental challenges.

The 2005 Richard Louv book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder created an increased interest in children's environmental awareness.^[2] As of 2007, the aims of the No Child Left Inside Coalition had been endorsed by 58 organizations including the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, and the National Wildlife Federation.^[3]

Legislation

Several states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin, endorsed the movement during the 2000s.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} A federal bill, the No Child Left Inside Act of 2009, was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 22, 2009 (Earth Day) by representative John P. Sarbanes (Democrat, MD-3),^[9] with 82 co-sponsors, as H.R.2054 and referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. A similar measure, the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 (H.R. 3036, 110th Congress) was passed by the House of Representatives on September 18, 2008,^[10] but was never voted on in the Senate.^[11] The bill was introduced in the Senate as S.866 by senator Jack Reed (Democrat, Rhode Island)^[12] with 17 co-sponsors and was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. On June 4, 2009, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

The federal bill proposed that appropriations be provided to train teachers for such instruction, provide innovative technology, and to develop studies assessing the worth of these programs in elementary and secondary school curriculums. While mainly addressing environmental literacy, this legislation also seeks to touch on healthy living programs encouraging outdoor recreation and sound nutrition.

Critics of the federal bill have claimed that it is intended to spread a political agenda to children. Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst Dan Lips claims the bill amounts to "the politicization of what's taught in American classrooms", while Representative Howard McKeon argues that "the federal government should not be imposing special interest-driven doctrine through educational policy, and we'll fight to ensure that doesn't happen with this or any other bill".^[13]

References

1. ^ "Federal legislation aims to get kids off the couch and exploring the outdoors". The Grand Rapids Press. 2009-09-05. http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2009/09/legislation_aims_to_get_kids_o.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
2. ^ Koch, Wendy (2006-11-22). "Nature programs' goal: No child left inside". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-21-no-child-left-inside_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
3. ^ "No Child Left Inside Coalition Members". North American Association For Environmental Education. http://www.naaee.org/ee-advocacy/no-child-left-inside-coalition-members. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
4. ^ "No Child Left Inside". State of Connecticut. http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2688&depNav_GID=1511&q=335880. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
5. ^ "Certificate of Proclamation - No Child Left Inside Days". State of Michigan. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/certificate_274021_7.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
6. ^ "No Child Left Inside". State of Massachusetts. http://www.mass.gov/dcr/gpp/. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
7. ^ "Families Encouraged to Celebrate "No Child Left Inside Month" in June". Illinois Department of Natural Resources. http://www.dnr.state.il.us/pubaffairs/2009/june/families.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
8. ^ "No Child Left Inside Coalition to develop Environmental Literacy Plan for Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin. http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2009_44.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
9. ^ "No Child Left Inside Act 2009 Introduced on Earth Day". National Wildlife Federation. 2009-04-22. http://www.nwf.org/news/story.cfm?pageId=CA3BDF3E-5056-A868-A0A176C5FB74B49E. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
10. ^ Taunton, Phil (2009-01-23). "No Child Left Inside, Part 2". Emporia Gazette. http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2009/jan/23/no_child_left_inside_part_2/. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
11. ^ "H.R. 3036: 110th Congress. No Child Left Inside Act of 2008". GovTrack.us. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3036. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 
12. ^ Reed, Jack (August 11, 2009). "Letter; Learning About Nature". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEEDD1F3BF932A2575BC0A96F9C8B63. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 
13. ^ Starr, Penny (2009-05-15). "‘No Child Left Inside Act' Would Spend $500M Teaching 'Environmental Literacy' Starting in Kindergarten". Cybercast News Service. http://www.cnsnews.com/PUBLIC/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=48164. Retrieved 2009-11-06. ^{[dead link]}

Further reading

• Boyd, Robynne (August 18, 2009). "Environmental education gets a push in Congress The No Child Left Inside Act aims to trade computer screens for grass-stained jeans.". Mother Nature Network. http://www.mnn.com/family/education-activities/stories/environmental-education-gets-a-push-in-congress. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 

External links

• Full Text of the Bill
• H.R. 2054 at GovTrack.us
• Wisconsin No Child Left Inside Coalition