A generation of children are growing up unable to relate to other people because society attempts to “imprison” them in a risk free world, experts warned today.
Some youngsters are so bored by over-safe playgrounds that they seek dangerous thrills on railway tracks, the Brmingham-based Royal
Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said. And pupils who are banned from play-fighting at school can turn to serious violence when they grow older, according to a former Government adviser.
Tim Gill, a childhood expert who prepared a major Government report on play in 2002, said: “The playgrounds that we provide for children have become all but completely driven by the wish to eliminate childhood injuries.
“They are not doing a good job, they are not providing value for money. Children find them boring.”
Speaking ahead of a lecture at the RSA in London, he went on: “Society as a whole has to recognise that children must be allowed to assume greater responsibility for their actions and their safety.”
Play-fighting and games like “cops and robbers” can help children to learn social skills, resolve conflicts, and read facial expressions and body language, he said. But many schools and parents ban such activities, denying youngsters the chance to develop these vital skills.
“When they are older things can get a lot more serious,” he said. “Some kids can decide to get their retaliation in first.”
Fear of strangers and paedophiles means very few children aged between six and 10 are seen outdoors alone in the street or parks any more, he said.
Young children play outside regularly in countries such as the Netherlands, which came top of last week’s UNICEF league for child well-being. The UK was ranked bottom.
Mr Gill said: “Children are not as visible in the UK. They are almost imprisoned in a way which isn’t the case in other countries.
“We don’t recognise that children need to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes if they are to have a sense of responsibility.”
Mr Gill suggested that the Government’s plans for extending the school day to include after-hours sports, arts and homework clubs would limit children’s free time even further.
Safety campaigners warned that playgrounds must not attempt to eliminate risk for children and become boring.
RoSPA chief executive Tom Mullarkey said: “One of our main concerns is that if kids aren’t challenged in the playground, they will go and find more and more exciting things to do which could be more and more dangerous.
“We constantly see this with accidents that take place on railway lines with children. They just don’t have facilities locally or they don’t find them exciting.
“When I was at school, playgrounds were probably quite dangerous. “There was certainly no matting and the design that went into the apparatus was very limited. Accidents did happen and some were very serious.”
Chris Hanvey, from children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: “We fail these days to distinguish between hazard for children and risk. Risk is a normal part of childhood.”
Dr Hanvey said the scale of the issue had reached “barmy” proportions, with pupils banned from playing conkers, and the “huge” amount of risk assessment paperwork teachers must complete for school trips.
