Is outdoor play risky?

I recall like it was yesterday a moment outside at my new preschool. I'd only just started at the preschool after about six years working in community based early childhood centres. I had been appointed to a school in the Mt Druitt area and was very excited at the prospect of working in a preschool within my local area. My leaders at Fairfield Council had warned me not to go, as if it was some sort of defection. "Don't go to the Department, they'll change you. You'll lose your early childhood roots". I assured them that that would never happen to me. They wouldn't be able to change me, I'd change the department! Their laughter still rings in my ears. 

So off I went with great confidence that I had something to offer, that my early childhood roots would nurture me throughout my career. As it turns out, I was right, but they did have a point. It's been a hard journey and I've often met with resistance, doubt, conflict and have regularly found my philosophy undermined. Most times I managed to hold on to what I believed was best for small children based on my training and experience, as this story will testify. 

We had a small tree at the preschool. It wasn't the best climbing tree in the world but it was the only one we had and if the children wanted to climb it I helped them and supported them. One day the Deputy Principal was walking past and saw a child in the tree. He was shocked at what he saw was inappropriate behaviour by the child and sternly told him to get down immediately, that tree climbing was not permitted in the school. I went to the child's defense and explained that climbing the tree was encouraged in the preschool. "We climb trees here" I informed him. I recall his face very clearly as it transformed from complete confidence in his care of duty and supervisory right to complete shock and disbelief.  I saw his jaw drop and his eyes bulge as his face reddened. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Climbing trees is dangerous. Children aren't allowed to climb trees at this school". I explained the advantages of climbing trees. The gross and fine motor development, the opportunities for imaginative play, the chance for kids to connect to the natural environment. I didn't know then about the importance of allowing children to manage their own risks, but perhaps I had an instinct for that too. I certainly knew of the intrinsic joy you can get from tree climbing, as my childhood was full of it. I think this was probably the first time that he'd been confronted with such strange ideas in education. Keep in mind I'm going back over twenty years. The story has a happy ending, and the tree continued to be climbed and enjoyed for many years, with not one serious accident. There were the odd bumps and one child got their foot stuck and needed to be lifted from an upside down position, but bumps and bruises and falls can be advantageous too. It teaches children about managing risk. 

Since embarking on this journey I've often found myself defending managed and calculated risk. I just want to add a blog entry in defense of trees. Yes we need to keep children safe, but let's get it in  perspective. What are the benefits? 

The types of indoor activities that children are engaging in more and more are in actual fact more dangerous that tree climbing. The impacts of long hours on the couch, screen time and passive activity indoors is leading to many more impacts on our children's health. More people die from heart disease, diabetes and cancer than from falling out of trees, not to mention the impacts of childhood obesity. 

You might find the following article of interest: 

Ben Klasky 

President and CEO, IslandWood

 

Your Couch Is Far More Dangerous Than You Think

Posted: 04/17/2014 3:34 pm EDT Updated: 04/17/2014 3:59 pm

Why are we so afraid to let our kids play outside, when we know that such activity is vital for their physical and mental health? Our fears are so extreme that in a few cases, parents have been arrested for allowing their children to play outside unattended. My mother would have been sent to jail on an almost daily basis.

Until recently, it was common for kids to come home from school, grab a snack, and head outside to play in the neighborhood. This was true for me growing up in suburban Minneapolis, and also for my parents who grew up in L.A. and Detroit. Even in the nation's city of cities -- New York -- children once played in the streets after school. There were games like stickball, hopscotch, and a wild version of tag called Ringoleavio. Author Bill Bryson jests about parenting styles from his childhood: "I knew kids who were pushed out the door at 8 in the morning, and not allowed back until 5 unless they were on fire or actively bleeding."

I believe this dramatic change in parenting stems from fears of what I've dubbed the Three A's -- Animals, Abduction, and Accidents. But our fears greatly exaggerate the risk of playing outside, and have the unattended side effect of increasing the chances of our kids developing serious health threats. Consider the facts:

Animal Attacks: As their natural territories shrink, top predators are living closer to our urban centers (not far from my home, cougars have been found in Seattle city parks). But in all of North America, we can expect fewer than three people to die each year due to bears, cougars, coyotes, and wolves -- combined. Some researchers believe that our fear of these animals is innate, dating back to prehistoric times, when humans fell prey to bear-sized hyenas and saber-tooth cats. Today, however, the chances are miniscule of meeting our demise at the paws or teeth of a large carnivore.

Abduction: The U.S. experiences about 115 "stereotypical kidnappings" annually -- involving someone the child doesn't know, and in which the child is held at least overnight, transported a distance, and killed or ransomed. This is truly scary stuff. At the same time, such kidnappings are incredibly rare... only a little more common than getting struck by lightning.

Accidents: Each year, the U.S. can expect to see the following number of "outdoor" deaths:

5,100 car or bike accidents

3,500 swimming and boating drownings

1,000 plant, mushroom, and pesticide poisonings

fewer than 500 other accidents from bee stings, horseback riding, overheating, hunting, lightning, playground falls, skiing/snowboarding, snake bites, and trees falling on people.

Adding up all these statistics, we can predict slightly over 10,000 outdoor deaths this year. This is a small portion of the 2.5 million people who die annually in the U.S. -- over half of them from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes alone. If your chances of dying outside measured four blocks long, your chances of dying from these three illnesses would be longer than running a marathon! And active outdoor time has been repeatedly documented to reduce our chances of getting all three of these deadly diseases. We are exchanging a small amount of risk for more certain health threats caused by a sedentary lifestyle.

Our neighborhoods have additional threats to children's safety, including gang violence, poor air quality, and lack of access to green spaces. These are complex issues that can't be solved by simply encouraging parents to send their kids outside. We have tough work to do such as monitoring parks, passing legislation to clean the air, and demanding quality urban planning. However, if we don't begin to address some of our most basic fears of getting kids outside (the 3 A's), we are unlikely to successfully tackle these more difficult obstacles.

Much of our fears stem from 24/7 access to sensationalist headlines. We are barraged by stories of polar bear attacks, kidnappings, and playground deaths. When you combine the abundance of scary news flashes with the psychological phenomena known as the "recency effect" (we remember best what we saw most recently), it is no wonder that we are afraid to let our kids run around outside.

As a father, I want to protect my kids but my answer can't be keeping them indoors away from harm. Instead, I am focusing my energy on helping them be safer outside. I want my children to be crystal clear on what to do when encountering strangers, wildlife, and dangerous plants. I'm teaching them how to avoid street traffic, and how to properly wear helmets and life vests. By encouraging them to play safely outside, I'm protecting them from a host of much bigger risks -- and they're having a lot more fun too.

Follow Ben Klasky on Twitter: www.twitter.com/benklasky

MORE: Missing Persons Play Children Safety Nature Cougar Environment Animal Attacks Parenting Cougars Bears

The actual article can be found from the following link: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-klasky/the-couch-is-far-more-dan_b_5153066.html?utm_hp_ref=tw