Class and the Environment

In English class, we have recently started discussing the environment and its role in our lives. Our discussions on the environment have included how the environment is portrayed in the media and our culture, as well as the relationship between children and the environment. After these discussions, I discovered an interesting relationship between a child's class and their interaction with nature.

Many story books portray children as having the closest connection with nature. However, how children interact with nature is greatly affected by their economic class. Children from upper class homes get to experience "nature" at camp, where nature consists of kayaking, hiking and building campfires. Is this "real" nature? If it's not, what constitutes "real" nature? Parents who pay thousands of dollars for their children to travel away from home into the "wild" would argue that camp provides a "real" nature experience. However, is it real nature if it is controlled?

Meanwhile, many children from lower class homes do not have the opportunity to go to camp. These children experience nature from playing in backyards, alleys, or public parks. These nature experiences do not include canoeing or horseback riding, but rather experiencing nature in an uncontrolled environment, in any way accessible to them (read "Rich Kids Went to Camp, Poor Kids Just Went Outside" for an interesting take on this issue!) Is this "true" nature? Perhaps people could view this nature as dirtier nature, nature that is not pre-approved or controlled.

What are the future repercussions to these differing experiences with nature? Will these children develop different attitudes towards nature? For upper class children, they could develop the attitude that nature is dirty when it's in the house, and people should pay to have their houses cleaned and keep the dirt of nature out. However, nature is positive and connecting with the environment when encountered in these controlled environments such as camp or horseback riding ranches. For lower class families, nature might have much more negative connotations. Nature symbolizes dirtiness and lower class when in the house. Lower class families can't pay to have their homes cleaned or to keep nature "out." The projects, lower class housing, is known for dirtiness. Therefore, will they ever develop positive feelings towards nature, or will their feelings alway be affected by the view of their culture on nature?

In the end, interactions with nature, just like many other issues in our culture, are affected by a person's class. The consequences of these differing interactions are unclear, but they are sure to affect a person's future view on the environment and nature. It is imperative that we ensure we are experiencing nature in a multitude of different ways, including controlled and uncontrolled, to truly experience nature in all of its truest forms.