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Viewpoint: It is time to puncture the zero risk myth

headshot of Tim Gill

Children need more freedom and responsibility – and school, children’s centre and children’s services leaders have a crucial role to play, says Tim Gill.

Children’s lives have become infected by the fantasy of the zero risk childhood. Everyone agrees that it has to stop, but how? Schools and other children’s services have a key role to play.

Let’s start with a history lesson. It is often said that kids grow up faster today. And you can see why, as they debate last night’s X Factor, or update their Facebook status. But when it comes to children’s everyday lives, nothing could be further from the truth. You and I enjoyed freedoms that today’s media-savvy, techno-literate kids can only dream of. It is not mere nostalgia to remind ourselves of the value of these experiences in shaping our sense of who we are.

Childhood is a journey. At its heart is the transfer of power and responsibility from adult to child. If children are to make progress, they need to be given a degree of freedom and responsibility: to be allowed to get to grips with the objects, people and places around them.

Schools and children’s services have a huge influence on this – for better or for worse. Sadly all too often, what they do has the effect of further limiting the horizons of childhood.

"Only a balanced, thoughtful approach to risk will properly equip children for the ups and downs of life"

I am thinking here not so much of trips and outdoor learning – though these are important – but of more everyday territory. Like the playground. Here, the trend is for growing adult control, structure and supervision, and shrinking freedom of action for children.

The reasons for this trend are complex (and as I argue in my book No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society, can be seen in many areas, including school trips, child protection and antibullying). Lawyers, politicians, the media and the regulators are part of the problem. But not the whole problem. Schools cannot simply pass the buck.

The logic of the zero risk childhood can be resisted. For instance, breaktime can be seen not as a management headache, but as a real opportunity for children to learn and grow through their own efforts (for an example, watch this Youtube video of Bristol Scrapstore’s wonderful ‘Playpod’ project, which uses recycled materials to transform playtimes).

Yes, you need to bring parents with you – but in my experience many parents want their children to be given more responsibility, even if it means the occasional scratch or bruised ego. If you set your bar at the level of the most anxious parent, you will let down all your children.

We need to move from a philosophy of protection to a philosophy of resilience. Here’s one idea that is gaining momentum: instead of doing risk assessments – where the goal is always risk reduction – we should be doing risk benefit assessments: to recognise the upside of risk.

Experience teaches us that only a balanced, thoughtful approach to risk will properly equip children for the ups and downs of life. It’s a lesson we adults must never forget. ldr logo full stop

Tim Gill is a campaigner whose writing, research and consultancy work focuses on children’s play and free time. More information is available at www.rethinkingchildhood.com.