Important Lessons

Lessons on environment as important as the three Rs, says Attenborough

Classes on the environment are just as important as lessons in maths and English for today's children, veteran natural history presenter Sir David Attenborough has told the Guardian.


Attenborough, the voice of television natural history programmes for more than 50 years, said most children now grew up with "very little" direct contact with the natural world and were "estranged" from non-human forms of life.


Many children used to get to know the natural world in the countryside, but now many learn about nature at school,

But don't expect too much from public education. Take your kids out for a hike, let them dig in dirt, help plant a garden, walk in a stream, touch a snake... And forget about scaring them about poison ivy, ticks, mosquitoes...- teach them to exist with rather than fear nature.