Risky Play

70 years ago, children enjoyed a lot more freedom than they do today. The time allowed to play often stretched for days at a time. In many cases, this allowed children to become highly creative while finding exciting opportunities to play unsupervised. No one seemed concerned about a child climbing the highest tree or going on a picnic or fishing, unaccompanied by adults. Even an overnight camping trip for a group of under 12s was usually acceptable as long as it wasn't raining. In turn, the ability to make important decisions and take risks, given the freedom experienced, built resilience in children that we don't see anymore. Today's children are often fearful and turn to their parents, who supervise everything they do. Helicopter parents hover over their children's every move to ensure that they come to no harm. In doing so, the parent inadvertently causes more harm, making the child/children dependent on the parent for even the simplest decision.