Leave kids free
Each generation of parents seems to be more conscientious than the last.
That can be a mixed blessing for children if it means the parents feel an obligation to supervise and entertain them every waking hour.
In our review feature today (p20-21) AUT researchers asked children aged 10-12, and their parents and grandparents, how often they were allowed to go by themselves to shops, parks, school and each other’s homes.
They found the freedom to do these things unsupervised dropped slightly from the grandparents’ generation to the parents’ but more markedly for today’s children. That suggests unduly protective habits started with today’s Gen-X parents — but they might be putting a rosy hue on their own upbringing.
The grandparents (boomers) might remember when they stopped allowing their children to roam as freely as they themselves did in the 1950s and 60s.
A number of tragic child abductions in the 1980s had a profound effect. Children started being driven to and from school. Parents wanted to know where children were at all times.
Roaming wild, climbing trees and playing in creeks became alarming.
It was undoubtedly an overreaction to rare crime but it has continued and children’s lives became even more cloistered as “stranger danger” programmes and health and safety regulations took hold in schools over subsequent decades.
The researchers found today’s 10-12 year olds attend more than twice as many organised activities as their parents did.
One of the speakers at a symposium in Auckland next weekend called ReWild the Child blames problems such as school bullying and mental health issues on children’s loss of connection with nature.
Teachers in schools that let kids climb trees, explore bush, enjoy some rough and tumble report less serious fighting, fewer accidents and better classroom behaviour than they have seen in more cosseted schools.
It is food for thought. It is hard not to worry when the kids are out of sight but at least when they are in sight, parents could relax more, refuse to entertain them, and watch them become curious and creative.