How to let kids be kids

Allowing children to take risks increases their resilience and helps them make judgments.

The current "cotton wool" culture means many kids are not getting the chance to fully explore their world and learn essential life skills.
"Too many kids are playing it too safe, [creating] a marshmallow generation," says child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg. "If you restrict children from playing outside, you send a message that the world is a much more terrifying place than it is and you run the risk of making kids risk-averse," he says.
"They will spend more time on the computer and being sedentary. Children ought to be taking risks and it is not the end of the world if a child has an accident."

The need for kids to learn to take calculated risks in safe environments has been a fervent topic of discussion in the media following recent reports that a Sydney inner suburban primary school had banned kids from doing cartwheels and handstands.
"Schools are scared parents would sue if children were injured," Carr-Gregg says. "This play-paralysis means children no longer experience adventure."

Let them be free

There seems to be a growing global backlash to the ever shrinking freedom today's kids are afforded.
"Free-range" parenting is an emerging trend, countering the "helicopter" style of parenting.

Lenore Skenazy, the New York journalist and mum who coined the "free-range" term a few years ago after allowing her then-nine-yearold son to make his own way home from Manhattan, says: "Children, like chickens, deserve a life outside the cage. The overprotected life is stifling, not to mention boring for all concerned."

Research is also starting to hone in on the detrimental impact of over-protecting our kids, if only because it stops them from being able to get outside and engage in healthy, active play.


A 2009 Vic Health survey found 63 per cent of participants believed parents should not let primary school-age children move to and from places without adult supervision.

Last year a UK study found half of children aged seven to 12 were banned from climbing a tree without an adult present and 10 per cent of kids had never ridden a bike.

"To comprehend how irrational this thinking is, look at the fact that almost three times as many children were admitted to hospital after falling out of bed as those who had fallen from a tree," Carr- Gregg says.

Kids are missing out

Play is invaluable in terms of children's physical exercise, growth and the development of motor skills. When kids play together it creates rich opportunities for social, moral and emotional development and helps them to handle stress.
Free play also helps children learn to cooperate with others, says Associate Professor Paul Tranter from the University of New South Wales.

"Kids will grow up without being exposed to risk which hinders personal development. How can children who are never at risk of injury learn how to judge what is safe and become resilient?" he says.

Carr-Gregg also urges parents to lengthen the apron strings: "Children need to test themselves, but instead we are worshipping at the altar of occupational health and safety.

"Engaging in some risky activities provides kids with opportunities to learn new skills and ultimately reach their potential."

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