My early years were spent up in the bush around Kalamunda and later down on the foreshore of the Swan River and Heirisson Island. Growing up included lots of freedom to roam and play – I’m aware that this kind of childhood is a distant memory for most people today. I know it’s easy to be nostalgic about our own childhood, but the advent of ‘screen time’ has definitely changed the way kids of today spend their leisure time. The other change has been around our attitudes to child safety and protection. I concur with the sentiment of Claire Warden, who said (and I paraphrase):

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“As a society we look at physical risk, such as broken bones, cuts, etc but nobody talks about the intellectual risk of boredom from being in environments that are not stimulating or challenging, or the emotional risk to kids who do not push their own personal boundaries, who aren’t developing that inner resilience that comes through pushing some of those elements of physical risk. One of the reasons for this is that physical risk is measurable and observable, so steps can be taken to minimise physical risk, however intellectual and emotional risks are not easily observed or measured.”

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The challenge is to get the right balance between protecting kids from harm and providing genuine opportunities to explore, take risks, solve problems and grow.