PLAYLINK / Free Play Network

managing risk

It's clear to me that if we are serious about empowering kids and personalising learning then learning to manage risk [rather than having it entirely managed for them] is part of that process. It's great that there are fora like this, and schemes like Forest Schools, beginning to open that question up. I think I am right in thinking that the proportion of outdoor play against indoor has roughly reversed in 20 years. This seems to me to be a kind of child abuse, as does the notion that children are incapable of unsupervised free play until 14 years old. Ironically, it is fears for safety and about [predatory] child abuse that seem to have leigitimised that state of affairs: a case of perceived risk creating more problems than it solves. is this a question or a rant? How do we move this agenda forward at a strategic level? For example, will the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto help?
Posted by: ben, Projects development, Tide~ global learning, 07 June 2007, 12:44

I think the process for this is a bit like asking someone to come from the opposite side of the river to your side. You can start by building a bridge from your side and shouting "Jump" to the other people while taking no risk yourself - or you can start from their side of the river and build the bridge across at their pace.

In case that analogy doesn't work for you we have to realise that the risk averse need reassurance that what you are asking them to do will not be disastrous. Confidence needs to be built, a bit at a time, with lots of capacity building in the process. This goes for the decision makers as well as the people whose habits you are trying to change.

Sadly, my experience of asking children why they don't play in parks is because they are perceived as being too dangerous.

To ask people to go to a dangerous place (even if that danger is only imaginary) without any preparation is very difficult.

Locally we have a project which trains children to take responsibility for organising play in parks, bringin in shy children, children with disabilities and children who don't speak English.

We also train adult volunteers to be in the parks in a supervisory capacity but not "in loco parentis". The idea was that the adults would, in the children's minds, make the parks safer. However what we didn't realise was the the adults would also need reassurance that they would be safe in the parks, so our next stage is to have a small paid workforce to support the volunteers for the first few sessions until they are confident to be there in their own right.

As I said, start with small steps from where they are.
Posted by: David Williams, Programme Manager, Hillingdon Children's Fund, 07 June 2007, 12:44