Some more thoughts on risk and danger in childhood which I wrote to contribute to an online discussion on the 'Key Critiques made in Gills No Fear; growing up in a risk averse society (2006)' as part of my studies towards a Masters Degree in Outdoor Education.
The central argument to Gills 2006 work No Fear; growing up in a risk averse society is the point that in our modern society is at risk of restricting children and young people from exposure to important formative experiences by limiting freedom to take part in self-directed play/leisure activities and increasing levels of supervision. He refers to this phenomenon on page 12 as ‘the shrinking horizons of childhood’. This opinion is shared by many, particularly with regard to children’s opportunities to engage with the natural environment
This lack of unsupervised experiential play is even
recognised as a negative by children themselves and Gill quotes Hannan a
teenager from Newcastle “kids should be allowed to experiment and try things.
Otherwise when they grow up they’ll make very stupid mistakes” and the Better
Regulation Commission (2006) agree that “risk can
be beneficial and should be encouraged”. In the
Adventure Alternative (Mortlock, 1984 , pp. 41-45) investigates the
idea that risk bordering on misadventure, as long as the experience is not too
traumatic, is extremely beneficial and indeed essential to giving children and
young people a real understanding of how to cope with risk and danger. Based on these sources it is my oppinion that without
some risk with or without supervision, obviously there should be some
supervision for activities where there is a real risk and need for trained
supervision such as the examples that Mortlock uses, children and young people
are going to miss out on vital formative experiences.
References
Better Regulation Commission (2006) Risk,
Responsibility and Regulation; Whose risk is it anyway?, London: Better
Regulation Commission.
Countryside
Recreation Network (2009) Taking a chance Outdoors - Is Fear of Risk
Damaging Our Children?. s.l., Sheffield Hallam University Press .Furedi, F (2004) Paranoid Parenting. s.l.:Independent on Sunday.
Hillman, M., Adams,
J. & Whitelegg, J (1993) One False Move; A study of children's
independent mobility. London: Policy Studies Institute .
Louv, R (2005) Last
Child in the Woods; Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel
Hill : Algonquin Books .
Mortlock, C (1984) The
Adventure Alternative. Milnthorpe : Cicerone Press .
Silverman, J. &
Wilson, D (2002) Innocence Betrayed; Paedophilia, the media and society. Cambridge:
Polity.
Wheway, R. &
Millward , A (1997) Childs Play; Facilitating play on housing estates. London:
Chartered Institute of Housing.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.