You may have read my column a couple of weeks ago about how schools are banning playground games because students lacked the resilience or social skills to handle losing.
This week I came across research from Deakin University and VicHealth that supported the idea that younger Australian kids are “bubble wrapped” more than their UK counterparts.
They found that more than half of Aussie primary school kids (51%) are ferried to school by car, compared with less than a third (32%) of primary school children in England, despite generally walkable distances to and from school. This is even more surprising when you consider the weather conditions in the UK!
Four in five (78%) 11-year-old British kids were allowed to walk home from school alone, compared with less than half of Australian children of the same age (43%). And most UK children of that age were allowed to cross the road alone, compared to only two-thirds of Australian kids (85% vs 64%). VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said, “VicHealth is interested in the reasons why so many kids are still getting dropped off at school when the walk is usually manageable and obviously beneficial for their health and development.”
It seems that parents are more willing to allow their child more independence once they reach high school. Rechter says, “There seems to be a symbolic granting of freedom when a child transitions to high school, regardless of the child’s age. So while many kids are capable of independence when they are 10 to 12-years-old, they’re generally not given permission to travel alone until they’re in secondary school.”
It should be noted that this research was released to coincide with VicHealth’s Walk to School initiative and I’m also aware that many would argue that the UK parents are being reckless in allowing kids out on their own at such a young age.
That’s why parenting will always be a hotbed of discussion and argument.
My advice? You know your child best. Don’t blindly accept the advice of experts. Think about it carefully and then do what you think is right.
Author: Dan Haesler, he is a teacher, consultant, and speaker at the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People seminars. He is the co-developer of Happy Schools and blogs at http://danhaesler.com/ and tweets at @danhaesler
I was interested in the ‘helicopter parenting’ article, but I’m not sure that walking to school is the best example of developing resilience in children because of the safety concerns there might be – as in quite separate to trying to protect kids just from ‘discomfort’ of having to walk etc?
Dan – I am not sure if the title of this article is designed to illicit an emotive response or call in to question parenting choices? I do note your attempt to balance the argument towards the end of the article, but I have to question your choice of title.
I am a resiliency advocate and fully believe in (and have written about) the critical value of both exercise and fostering an environment in which children can grow and learn from their choices, experiences and subsequent set backs.
However I will under no circumstance put my children at risk especially if I deem that risk to be unacceptable. Sweeping generalisations are best housed in the tabloid media.
Esther & Nick
Thanks for your respective comments, the link to the report from Deakin University should have been in the piece: http://www.deakin.edu.au/news/2013/071113kidswalkingtoschool.php
I think it falls on the spectrum of resilience. It’s only my opinion.
With regard to the title, Nick, I take your point, but the idea of the blog is to generate discussion, and the report title itself refers to Aussie kids being more bubble wrapped than UK kids, and the point you make in your last paragraph pretty much mirrors mine.
Looking forward to you comments on future posts!
Cheers,
Dan