How children lost the right to roam in four generations

[achali]

I've been musing alot lately {see: The power and purpose of the introspecives of winter} on how important contact with actual healthy Earth is to being an actual, healthy Earthling. This adds more fuel to my mind-fire.


SOURCE
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tions.html

How children lost the right to roam in four generations

When George Thomas was eight he walked everywhere.

It was 1926 and his parents were unable to afford the fare for a tram, let alone the cost of a bike and he regularly walked six miles to his favourite fishing haunt without adult supervision.

Fast forward to 2007 and Mr Thomas's eight-year-old great-grandson Edward enjoys none of that freedom.

He is driven the few minutes to school, is taken by car to a safe place to ride his bike and can roam no more than 300 yards from home.

Sign of the times: Jack, Vicky and Ed

Even if he wanted to play outdoors, none of his friends strays from their home or garden unsupervised.

The contrast between Edward and George's childhoods is highlighted in a report which warns that the mental health of 21st-century children is at risk because they are missing out on the exposure to the natural world enjoyed by past generations.

The report says the change in attitudes is reflected in four generations of the Thomas family in Sheffield.

The oldest member, George, was allowed to roam for six miles from home unaccompanied when he was eight.

His home was tiny and crowded and he spent most of his time outside, playing games and making dens.

Mr Thomas, who went on to become a carpenter, has never lost some of the habits picked up as a child and, aged 88, is still a keen walker.

His son-in-law, Jack Hattersley, 63, was also given freedom to roam.

He was aged eight in 1950, and was allowed to walk for about one mile on his own to the local woods. Again, he walked to school and never travelled by car.

By 1979, when his daughter Vicky Grant was eight, there were signs that children's independence was being eroded.

"I was able to go out quite freely - I'd ride my bike around the estate, play with friends in the park and walk to the swimming pool and to school," said Mrs Grant, 36.

"There was a lot less traffic then - and families had only one car. People didn't make all these short journeys."

Today, her son Edward spends little time on his own outside his garden in their quiet suburban street. She takes him by car to school to ensure she gets to her part-time job as a medical librarian on time.

While he enjoys piano lessons, cubs, skiing lessons, regular holidays and the trampoline, slide and climbing frame in the garden, his mother is concerned he may be missing out.

She said: "He can go out in the crescent but he doesn't tend to go out because the other children don't. We put a bike in the car and go off to the country where we can all cycle together.

"It's not just about time. Traffic is an important consideration, as is the fear of abduction, but I'm not sure whether that's real or perceived."

She added: "Over four generations our family is poles apart in terms of affluence. But I'm not sure our lives are any richer."

The report's author, Dr William Bird, the health adviser to Natural England and the organiser of a conference on nature and health on Monday, believes children's long-term mental health is at risk.

He has compiled evidence that people are healthier and better adjusted if they get out into the countryside, parks or gardens.

Stress levels fall within minutes of seeing green spaces, he says. Even filling a home with flowers and plants can improve concentration and lower stress.

"If children haven't had contact with nature, they never develop a relationship with natural environment and they are unable to use it to cope with stress," he said.

"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety. Children are getting less and less unsupervised time in the natural environment.

"They need time playing in the countryside, in parks and in gardens where they can explore, dig up the ground and build dens."

The report, published by Natural England and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, also found that children's behaviour and school work improve if their playground has grassy areas, ponds and trees.

It also found evidence that hospital patients need fewer painkillers after surgery if they have views of nature from their bed.

[louise1969]

It is very unfortunate that parents are so worried about abduction but I do understand worries about traffic. I am lucky that I live in a very rural area with a no-through road but still the children are mostly absent, I assume they are all indoors playing with computer games.

My son is very much an outdoors boy and we allow him to roam along the farm tracks, footpaths and bridleways all reachable without going near a busy road. He has a friend in the neighbouring village who is of a similar disposition and they meet up and make dens and build small camp fires which they use to cook bacon and eggs in mess tins. My son is 10 and his friend is 13, but unfortunately adults out walking who see them are not always friendly, often being very abusive to them telling them they shouldn't be there and not to have fires, bicycles, dens etc.

I would understand worries about the fire in summer, but it is a very wet winter right now. I will not allow a fire further than my hosepipe distance in the summer or in dry windy conditions. I have also been very firm about them ensuring the fire is fully out before they leave and told them techniques of how to do this. They do take it seriously, constructing the fire in a dug pit and then spend a very long time before leaving putting the fire out. We are constantly within phone contact too should anything happen.

This abuse is getting so bad that they are now thinking of not going out as they find it very frightening. I am upset for them because these are the things I and many others were able to do as a child, I can only assume that as this is now a rare sight, adults feel it is wrong.

[FionaT]

I wonder if abductions and crime have risen over the last fifty years or that it's just reported more often? I kind of feel that we as a society have built up this irrational fear of bad things happening to us and our kids and that there really is nothing to fear. I'm sure traffic has increased over the past fifty or more years with autos being more affordable but beyond traffic, are we being swayed by the media and the bad news they love to report about or is there really a rational reason we should be more protective of our kids and families?
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Fiona - choir member and sunday school teacher