This study examined the accuracy of assumptions about children today having less engagement with nature than children in earlier times. Two questions guided the study: Is there a difference between the experience with nature of children from 1900 and from 2015? Does the experience mediated by television and computers significantly enrich real experience with nature?
Data relating to the level of children's experience with nature at the beginning of the 20th century was obtained from a study published in 1900. The published report included a copy of a 31-item questionnaire used to collect the data. Items on the questionnaire -- all relating to children's nature-related observations (e.g., “Have you ever seen a flying bird of prey?”) and activities (e.g., “Have you ever picked fruit from a tree?”) -- allowed only yes/no answers. The questionnaire was completed by 150 German children (age 12-14) in 1900. The same questionnaire – with one modification -- was used to collect data about contemporary children's engagement with nature. The modification related to mediated experiences with nature. Instead of being restricted to yes or no answers, children had a third option: “No, I've only seen it on TV/a computer”. Responses from 331 contemporary children living in the Czech Republic (age 12-14) were used for this study.
A comparison of responses from the two different time periods showed no difference in level of experience according to the age of the respondents. Overall results, however, showed that contemporary children's experience of nature is significantly higher than the experience of nature for children in 1900. Contemporary results also found a difference between the children's place of residence and their experience with nature. Children living in a village reported a higher level of experience with nature than children living in cities. The higher levels of engagement with nature for contemporary children versus children in 1900 are attributed, in part, to mediated experiences, which were not available over 100 years ago.
This study used exact data comparisons to document change in experience of nature between generations. The data showed a rise in experience with nature among contemporary children compared to the children of the early 20th century, with mediated experiences playing an important part in contemporary children's experience of nature. This research calls attention to ways in which “the structure of experiences with nature in 1900 and 2015 is based on different consequences, needs and possibilities.”
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