Chart of the Week



Why We Need to Ensure Equal Opportunities for Children to Experience Nature: From the MEXT Report

06/15 2023

Author: Sachi Ninomiya-Lim

Environmental educators (like me) often take the importance of exposure to nature in childhood for granted. But why is it important? A report issued in 2021 by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Hamagin Research Institute provides interesting evidence: Nature-related experiences positively impact children’s self-esteem in the long term. It examined the relationship between the frequencies of nature experiences (camping, mountaineering, playing in the river, fishing, sea bathing, marine sports, and winter sports) at age eight and the level of self-esteem at age seventeen, using the data obtained in the governmental longitudinal survey of those who were born on January 10-17 and July 10-17, 2001, and their parents in Japan. Interestingly, the study also analyzed the results according to the income groups of the children’s parents. The finding was that a positive impact on self-esteem was apparent in all and possibly stronger for the lower income groups (Figure).
Fig: Relation of “Self-esteem” and “Experiences with Nature” according to Parents’ Income Levels
Source: MEXT and Hamagin Research Institute (2021), English translation by the author



However, as this report also points out, it is also apparent nowadays that children of economically challenged families tend to have less opportunities to experience nature. Playing outdoors in the natural environment has become a luxury experience for which parents need to pay in many parts of the world, including Japan. Thus, filling the nature-experience gap and providing equal opportunities for all the children is one of the most important missions for environmental educators in modern Japan and the whole world.

Reference:


Hamagin Research Institute (2021) FY2020 Study Commissioned by MEXT: “Project to Support Youth Independence through Experiential Activities” Report of Study on Promotion of Youth Experiential Activities (original in Japanese: 『株式会社浜銀総合研究所（2021） 『令和２年度文部科学省委託調査　令和2年度「体験活動等を通じた青少年自立支援プロジェクト」 青少年の体験活動の推進に関する調査研究　報告書』) www.mext.go.jp/content/20210908-mxt_chisui01-100003338_2.pdf (Accessed on 15 June 2023)

MEXT (2021) FY2020 Study on Promotion of Youth Experiential Activities: Report Pamphlet (original in Japanese: 『令和2年度 青少年の体験活動の推進に関する調査研究 報告パンフレット（概要）』 www.mext.go.jp/content/20210908-mxt_chisui01-100003338_1.pdf (Accessed on 15 June 2023)