Playing outdoors keeps children healthy

When I was a kid, I walked to school. It was a long walk, over 1 mile long, and it included not only the backstreets from my home but through the main high street as well. Sometimes I was with my siblings and sometimes I was with a classmate because we lived one side street away from one another. Other times I was alone and there was no issue with that in those days.

After school I’d come home, have my dinner and then a friend, or friends, would knock on my door to ask me to come out and play. This was in London so we couldn’t go and play near a stream or climb trees. Sometimes we just played in the streets just outside our house. We’d mark the pavement with chalk and play hopscotch or we’d do something quite daring and climb over a wall to a disused site. I don’t know what possessed me and my friends to do this. It was a safety hazard but we didn’t think that far ahead, and, thinking back, I don’t even remember what we saw on the other side of the wall. And I only ever remember doing it once. And you know, I never rode a bike and never had one. To this day I still don’t know how to ride one. But in spite of this, it seems I had a wholesome and mentally healthy childhood, that is, according to experts.

They say that kids who spend their time play rough and tumble outdoors are more likely to grow up stable and happy. In a world free from safety issues, technology and social media, they would get the chance to be somewhat independent from a very young age. They’d go to school on their own, even from a very young age, the way I did, instead of being driven there and back by their parents or in a school bus. They’d get used to doing things for themselves which means that they are more able to cope in the real world. Back then playing outdoors was almost like role-play for real life.

Currently when children come home they do their homework and then plant themselves in front of their laptops playing computer games or surfing the internet or talking to their friends by email. Moreover, parents inadvertently encourage this behaviour because times have changed in that children’s safety is the number one priority. In my day, a six year old could walk home from school without a single soul bothering him or her. There was never any danger of abduction, at least not to the extent that it is now. The next best option is to keep the child at home where he is in front of their eyes and, therefore, safe.

Today’s generation does have a strange issue. As a result of their controlled upbringing they are very paranoid, don’t even take safe risks and have trouble coping at work. Most bosses of these generations have said that they are virtually unemployable because they expect too much from a workplace and can’t cope with stress so everything is a mental health issue. In contrast, when we were young, the phrase was unheard of, nor was the term social media, computer games, laptop or mobile phone. If things went wrong at work, or the work was too much, we just got on with it but we never called in sick unless we were physically ill. Back then, if I called my boss and told him I was taking a mental health day, I would probably have been asked, ‘What does that even mean?’ and then be sacked on the spot.

In today’s world, with twisted people everywhere, it’s hard for parents to strike a balance between the safety of their children and their mental health. Sometimes people call it being protective whilst others might say they’re being over-protective to the point that they’re suffocating the child’s developments to cope with normal life. Both views may have a point. But surely there must be a way in which parents can let their child engage in risk based playtime but under their discrete supervision?