In Hanna Rosin's article, The Overprotected Kid, She touches upon the habits of parents today versus during her time as a child in terms of how protective they are over their kids - and how it affects the way the millennial generation develops. Rosin's concerns about millennial involve their lack of "risky play" and how it's preventing them from getting over their fears and building the confidence and independence that is crucial to their development into adulthood. And quite frankly, I agree with her.
To further her argument against overprotecting children, she refers to Roger Hart's study done on a group of children by observing how they act when parent's aren't around. He called the distance the kids were allowed to go without checking in with their parents "free range", and discovered how important it was for children to have time away from their parents to help grow their independence on their own. In a traditional playground, a parent's role was simply to sit and let their child run, climb, and make friends. Oftentimes, as Rosin pointed out, Parent's would let their children out alone to play with children in the neighborhood for the entire day and wouldn't expect them back until dinnertime. However, the modern playground experience has been transformed into scheduled play dates, being driven from practice to club, and very limited outside time away from parents. Rosin explains that many parents feel more concerned for their child's safety because of the supposed increase in crime, and the rate at which news travels regarding playground accidents and child abductions is a lot faster than it was a decade or two ago. These fears are irrational, as the rate at which these incidents occur has not changed, and has remained very low since. Perhaps with the rise in social media and technology, the information can get around much more than before, but accidents happen, and the increasing paranoia of something bad happening is only hindering a child's development.
Back to "risky play". In the beginning of this article, Rosin describes one of the last playgrounds that is known as a risky play playground. Located in Wales, The Land is a fenced in playground that looks more like a dump site. The children, watched over by advisers, are encouraged to do whatever they want: start fires, make things using tools, swing from tubes hung from rope, build, destroy, and most importantly use these elements to overcome what they might find scary or intimidating. By letting a child overcome his or her fear, away from the sight of parents, encourages confidence and independence. Many middle-class parents would take one look at a place like this and most likely have a conniption over the thought of their child stepping foot in there. Rosin notes that the reason a modern parent would disapprove of The Land is they don't see the benefit to the hardly dangerous activities in the playground, and most importantly they are blind to how the benefits outweigh the minuscule dangers.
Lately, children hardly play outside. While Rosin talks about how parents scare children by making the outside seem dangerous, there's also the possibility that they've been so "joined-at-the-hip" to their parents that children just aren't used to going outside (or anywhere for that matter) without them. That of course is where the lack of developing independence comes in.
What I loved most about Rosin's article was the fact that she used the example of her 5 year old son Gideon and his experience at The Land. He was pushed down a hill in a bucket and into the cold river water, and instead of freaking out and crying like Rosin expected, he simply acknowledged the cold water, laughed, and moved on to the next activity. It sealed the deal on her argument that risky play is a good influence on children. She used it to show how children can overcome their fears on their own, and instead of having a bad impact on them, it can actually help children to grow.
With that being said, I think it's safe to say that risky play is in, and overprotecting your child is definitely not.
