Injury prevention plays a key role in keeping children safe, but emerging research suggests that imposing too many restrictions on children’s outdoor risky play hinders their development. We explore the relationship between child development, play, and conceptions of risk taking with the aim of informing child injury prevention. Generational trends indicate children’s diminishing engagement in outdoor play is influenced by parental and societal concerns. We outline the importance of play as a necessary ingredient for healthy child development and review the evidence for arguments supporting the need for outdoor risky play, including: (1) children have a natural propensity towards risky play; and, (2) keeping children safe involves letting them take and manage risks. Literature from many disciplines supports the notion that safety efforts should be balanced with opportunities for child development through outdoor risky play. New avenues for investigation and action are emerging seeking optimal strategies for keeping children “as safe as necessary,” not “as safe as possible.” This paradigm shift represents a potential for epistemological growth as well as cross-disciplinary collaboration to foster optimal child development while preserving children’s safety.
References
[1]
Peden, M.; Oyegbite, K.; Ozanne-Smith, J.; Hyder, A.A.; Branche, C.; Rahman, A.D.M.F.; Rivara, F.; Bartolomeos, K. Reference. In World Report on Child Injury Prevention; World Health Organization Press: Geneva, Switzerland, 2008.
[2]
Meddings, D. Child injury prevention and child survival. Inj. Prev. 2011, 17, 145–146, doi:10.1136/ip.2011.032185.
[3]
Public Health Agency of Canada. Reference. In Child and Youth Injury in Review, 2009 Edition—Spotlight on Consumer Product Safety; Public Health Agency of Canada: Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2009.
[4]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Childhood Injury Report: Patterns of Unintentional Injuries among 0–19 Year Olds in the United States, 2000–2006. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: Atlanta, GA, USA, 2008.
[5]
Sethi, D.; Towner, E.; Vincenten, J.; Segui-Gomez, M.; Racioppi, F. Reference. In European Report on Child Injury Prevention; World Health Organization: Rome, Italy, 2008.
[6]
Eager, D.; Little, H. Risk Deficit Disorder. In Proceeding of IPWEA International Public Works Conference, Canberra, Australia, 21–24 August 2011.
[7]
Ball, D.J. Policy issues and risk-benefit trade-offs of “safer surfacing” for children’s playgrounds. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2004, 36, 661–670, doi:10.1016/S0001-4575(03)00088-5.
[8]
Little, H.; Eager, D. Risk, challenge and safety: Implications for play quality and playground design. Eur. Early Child Educ. Res. J. 2010, 18, 497–513, doi:10.1080/1350293X.2010.525949.
[9]
Herrington, S.; Nicholls, J. Outdoor play spaces in Canada: The safety dance of standards as policy. Crit. Soc. Policy 2007, 27, 128–138, doi:10.1177/0261018307072210.
[10]
Valentine, G. “Oh yes I can” “Oh no you can’t”: Children and parents’ understandings of kids’ competence to negotiate public space safely. Antipode 1997, 29, 65–89.
[11]
Brussoni, M.; Olsen, L. The perils of overprotective parenting: Fathers’ perspectives explored. Child. Care Health Dev. 2012.
[12]
Batty, D. Health and Safety Review to Curb the ‘Nanny State’. Available online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/02/health-safety-review-nanny-state (accessed 24 August 2012).
[13]
Marano, H.E. A Nation of Wimps. Available online: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/nation-wimps (accessed on 24 August 2012).
[14]
Baluja, T.; McGinn, D. Parental Fear Contributing to Sedentary Lifestyle of Canadian Children: Report. Available online: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/parental-fear-contributing-to-sedentary-lifestyle-of-canadian-children-report/article4217180/ (accessed on 29 May 2012).
[15]
Ungar, M. Reference. In Too Safe for Their Own Good; McClelland & Stewart: Toronto, ON, Canada, 2007.
[16]
Skenazy, L. Reference. In Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had without Going Nuts with Worry; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, USA, 2009.
[17]
Honoré, C. Reference. In Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting; Knopf: Toronto, ON, Canada, 2008.
[18]
Marano, H.E. Reference. In A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting; Broadway Books: New York, NY, UK, 2008.
[19]
Vincenten, J.; Mackay, M.; Brussoni, M.; Towner, E.; Fuselli, P. Reference. In Child Safety Good Practice Guide: Good Investments in Unintentional Child Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion—Canadian Edition; Safe Kids Canada: Toronto, ON, Canada, 2011.
[20]
Birken, C.S.; Parkin, P.C.; To, T.; Macarthur, C. Trends in rates of death from unintentional injury among Canadian children in urban areas: Influence of socioeconomic status. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 2006, 175, 867–868, doi:10.1503/cmaj.051207.
[21]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital signs: Unintentional injury deaths among persons aged 0–19 years—United States, 2000–2009. MMWR 2012, 61, 270–276.
[22]
Hyun, E. Culture and Development in Children’s Play. In Making Sense of Developmentally and Culturally Appropriate Practice (DCAP) in Early Childhood Education; Peter Lang Publishing: New York, NY, UK, 1998; pp. 15–30.
[23]
Pellegrini, A.D. Play: What is It? In The role of Play in Human Development; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2009; pp. 6–20.
[24]
Smith, P.K. Play: Types and Functions in Human Development. In Origins of the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Child Development; Ellis, B.J., Bjorklund, D.F., Eds.; Guilford Press: New York, NY, USA, 2005.
[25]
Sandseter, E.B.H.; Kennair, L.E.O. Children’s risky play from an evolutionary perspective: The anti-phobic effects of thrilling experiences. Evol. Psychol. 2011, 9, 257–284.
[26]
Sandseter, E.B.H. Categorising risky play—How can we identify risk-taking in children’s play? Eur. Early Child Educ. Res. J. 2007, 15, 237–252, doi:10.1080/13502930701321733.
[27]
Fromberg, D.P.; Bergen, D. Reference. In Play from Birth to Twelve: Contexts, Perspectives and Meanings, 2nd ed.; Routledge: New York, NY, USA, 2006.
[28]
Milteer, R.M.; Ginsburg, K.R. The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: Focus on children in poverty. Pediatrics 2012, 129, e204–e213.
[29]
Jambor, T. Challenge and Risk-Taking in Play. In Play from Birth to Twelve and Beyond: Contexts, Perspectives, and Meanings; Fromberg, D.P., Bergen, D., Eds.; Routledge: New York, NY, USA, 1998.
[30]
Csikszentmihalyi, M.; Hunter, J. Happiness in everyday life: The uses of experience sampling. J. Happiness Stud. 2003, 4, 185–199, doi:10.1023/A:1024409732742.
[31]
Weikart, D.P. Changing early childhood development through educational intervention. Prev. Med. 1998, 27, 233–237, doi:10.1006/pmed.1998.0280.
[32]
Hol, T.; Van den Berg, C.L.; Van Ree, J.M.; Spruijt, B.M. Isolation during the play period in infancy decreases adult social interactions in rats. Behav. Brain Res. 1999, 100, 91–97, doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(98)00116-8.
[33]
Panksepp, J.; Burgdorf, J.; Turner, C.; Gordon, N. Modeling ADHD-type arousal with unilateral frontal cortex damage in rats and beneficial effects of play therapy. Brain Cogn. 2003, 52, 97–105, doi:10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00013-7.
[34]
Panksepp, J. Can play diminish ADHD and facilitate the construction of the social brain? J. Can. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2007, 16, 57–66.
[35]
Taylor, A.F.; Kuo, F.E. Is Contact with Nature Important for Healthy Child Development? State of the Evidence. In Children and Their Environments; Spencer, C., Blades, M., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2006; pp. 124–140.
[36]
Fj？rtoft, I. The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. Early Child. Educ. J. 2001, 29, 111–117, doi:10.1023/A:1012576913074.
[37]
Bruner, J.S.; Jolly, A.; Sylva, K. Reference. In Play—It’s Role in Development and Evolution; Basic Books, Inc.: New York, NY, USA, 1976.
[38]
Karsten, L. It all used to be better? Different generations on continuity and change in urban children’s daily use of space. Child. Geogr. 2005, 3, 275–290, doi:10.1080/14733280500352912.
[39]
Hofferth, S.L. Changes in American children’s time—1997 to 2003. Electron. Int. J. Time Use Res. 2009, 6, 26–47.
[40]
Valentine, G.; McKendrick, J. Children’s outdoor play: Exploring parental concerns about children’s safety and the changing nature of childhood. Geoforum 1997, 28, 219–235, doi:10.1016/S0016-7185(97)00010-9.
[41]
Hofferth, S.L.; Sandberg, J.F. How American children spend their time. J. Marriage Fam. 2001, 63, 295–308, doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00295.x.
[42]
Tandon, P.S.; Zhou, C.; Christakis, D.A. Frequency of parent-supervised outdoor play of US preschool-aged children. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 2012.
[43]
Clements, R. An investigation of the status of outdoor play. Contemp. Issues Early Child. 2004, 5, 68–80, doi:10.2304/ciec.2004.5.1.10.
[44]
Gaster, S. Urban children’s access to their neighborhood: Changes over three generations. Environ. Behav. 1991, 23, 70–85, doi:10.1177/0013916591231004.
[45]
Tandy, C.A. Children’s diminishing play spaces: A study of inter-generational change in children’s use of their neighbourhoods. Aust. Geogr. Stud. 1999, 37, 154–164.
[46]
Colley, R.C.; Wong, S.L.; Garriaguet, D.; Janssen, I.; Connor, S.G.; Tremblay, M.S. Physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in Canadian children: Parent-reported versus direct measures and relative associations with health risk. Health Rep. 2012, 23, 1–8.
[47]
Leatherdale, S.T.; Ahmed, R. Screen-based sedentary behaviours among a nationally representative sample of youth: Are Canadian children couch potatoes? CDIC 2011, 31, 141–146.
[48]
Colman, R.; Hayward, K. Reference. In Childhood Overweight and Obesity: Summary of Evidence from the ‘Cost of Obesity in Alberta’ Report; Alberta Health Services: Calgary, AB, Canada, 2010.
[49]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adolescent and Social Health. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm (accessed on 2 May 2012).
[50]
Ogden, C.L.; Carroll, M.D.; Curtin, L.R.; Lamb, M.M.; Flegal, K.M. Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. JAMA 2010, 303, 242–249.
[51]
Livingstone, M.B.E. Childhood obesity in Europe: A growing concern. Public Health Nutr. 2001, 4, 109–116.
[52]
World Health Organization. European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Available online: http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/policy/member-states-action-networks/childhood-obesity-surveillance/european-childhood-obesity-surveillance-initiative-cosi (accessed on 13 July 2012).
[53]
Burdett, H.L.; Whitaker, R.C. Resurrecting free play in young children: Looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 2005, 159, 46–50.
[54]
Gray, P. The decline of play and the rise of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Am. J. Play 2011, 3, 443–463.
[55]
Twenge, J.M. The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2000, 79, 1007–1021, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.1007.
[56]
Twenge, J.M.; Gentile, B.; Dewall, C.N.; Ma, D.; Lacefield, K.; Shurtz, D.R. Birth cohort increases in psychopathology among young Americans, 1938–2007: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the MMPI. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2010, 30, 145–154, doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.10.005.
[57]
Carver, A.; Timperio, A.; Crawford, D. Playing it safe: The influence of neighbourhood safety on Children’s physical activity—A review. Health Place 2008, 14, 217–227, doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2007.06.004.
[58]
Living Streets. No Ball Games Here. Available online: http://noballgames.eu/uploads/documents/no-ball-games%20report%20by%20living%20streets.pdf (accessed on 24 August 2012).
[59]
Malone, K. The bubble-wrap generation: Children growing up in walled gardens. Environ. Educ. Res. 2007, 13, 513–527, doi:10.1080/13504620701581612.
[60]
Shirani, F.; Henwood, K.; Coltart, C. Meeting the challenges of intensive parenting culture: Gender, risk management and the moral parent. Sociology 2012, 46, 25–40.
[61]
Hoffman, D.M. Risky investments: Parenting and the production of the ‘resilient child’. Health Risk Soc. 2010, 12, 385–394, doi:10.1080/13698571003789716.
[62]
Leisure Safety: Safety and Risk Education. Available online: http://www.rospa.com/leisuresafety/adviceandinformation/safetyandriskeducation/default.aspx (accessed on 2 May 2012).
[63]
Cunningham, H. Reference. In Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500; Pearson Education Ltd: Harlow, UK, 2005.
[64]
Valentine, G. Exploring children and young people’s narratives of identity. Geoforum 2000, 31, 257–267, doi:10.1016/S0016-7185(99)00047-0.
[65]
Jambor, T. Coordinating the Elusive Playground Triad: Managing Children’s Risk-Taking Behavior while Facilitating Optimal Challenge Opportunities within a Safe Environment. In Proceeding of International Conference on Playground Safety, University Park, PA, USA, 10 October 1995.
[66]
Morrongiello, B.A.; Lasenby-Lessard, J. Psychological determinants of risk taking by children: An integrative model and implications for interventions. Inj. Prev. 2007, 13, 20–25, doi:10.1136/ip.2005.011296.
[67]
Mytton, J.; Towner, E.; Brussoni, M.; Gray, S. Unintentional injuries in school-aged children and adolescents: Lessons from a systematic review of cohort studies. Inj. Prev. 2009, 15, 111–124, doi:10.1136/ip.2008.019471.
[68]
Sandseter, E.B.H. Risky play and risk management in Norwegian preschools—A qualitative observational study. Safety Sci. Monitor 2009, 13, 1–12.
[69]
Morrongiello, B.A. Do children’s intentions to risk take relate to actual risk taking? Inj. Prev. 2004, 10, 62–64, doi:10.1136/ip.2003.003624.
[70]
Spinka, M.; Newberry, R.C.; Bekoff, M. Mammalian play: Training for the unexpected. Q. Rev. Biol. 2001, 76, 141–168.
[71]
Pellis, S.M.; Pellis, V.C.; Bell, H.C. The function of play in the development of the social brain. Am. J. Play 2010, 2, 278–296.
[72]
Grundy, S.; Towner, E.; Sparks, G.; Hughes, K. Reference. In Social Characteristics of Leisure Injuries and Risk Taking among 11–14 Year Olds; Child Accident Prevention Trust: London, UK, 2002.
[73]
Herrington, S.; Lesmeister, C.; Nicholls, J.; Stefiuk, K. Seven Cs: An informational Guide to Young Children’s Outdoor Play Spaces. Available online: http://www.wstcoast.org/playspaces/outsidecriteria/7Cs.pdf (accessed on 24 August 2012).
[74]
Copeland, K.A.; Sherman, S.N.; Kendeigh, C.A.; Kalkwarf, H.J. Societal values and policies may curtail preschool children’s physical activity in child care centres. Pediatrics 2012, 129, 265–274, doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2102.
[75]
Green, J. Risk and the construction of social identity: Children’s talk about accidents. Sociol. Health Illn. 1997, 19, 457–479, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.1997.tb00413.x.
[76]
Christensen, P.; Mikkelsen, M.R. Jumping off and being careful: Children’s strategies of risk management in everyday life. Sociol. Health Illn. 2008, 30, 112–130, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01046.x.
[77]
LaFreniere, P. Evolutionary functions of social play: Life histories, sex differences, and emotion regulation. Am. J. Play 2011, 3, 464–488.
[78]
Beesdo, K.; Knappe, S.; Pine, D.S. Anxiety and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: Developmental issues and implicatons for DSM-V. Psychiatr. Clin. North Am. 2009, 32, 483–524.
[79]
Ball, D.; Gill, T.; Spiegal, B. Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation Guide; Play England: London, UK, 2008.
[80]
Kozlovsky, R. Adventure Playgrounds and Postwar Reconstruction. In Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space and the Material Culture of Children: An International Reader; Gutman, M., Coninck-Smith, N.D., Eds.; Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ, Canada, 2008.
[81]
Staempfli, M.B. Reintroducing adventure into children’s outdoor play environments. Environ. Behav. 2009, 41, 268–280, doi:10.1177/0013916508315000.
[82]
Sutton, L. Adventure Playgrounds: A Children’s World in the City. Available online: http://adventureplaygrounds.hampshire.edu/adventureplay.pdf (accessed on 25 June 2012).
[83]
Wallach, F. Playground safety: What did we do wrong? Park. Recreat. 1992, 27, 52–57.
[84]
Play Safety Forum. Managing Risk in Play Provision: A Position Statement. Available online: http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/120462/managing-risk-play-safety-forum.pdf (accessed on 24 August 2012).
[85]
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. NICE Public Health Guidance 29. Strategies to Prevent Unintentional Injuries among Children and Young People Aged under 15s. Available online: http://publications.nice.org.uk/strategies-to-prevent-unintentional-injuries-among-the-under-15s-ph29 (accessed on 24 August 2012).
[86]
Gill, T. Reference. In No Fear: Growing up in a Risk Averse Society; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation: London, UK, 2007.
[87]
Bundy, A.C.; Naughton, G.; Tranter, P.; Wyver, S.; Baur, L.; Schiller, W.; Bauman, A.; Engelen, L.; Ragen, J.; Luckett, T.; et al. The Sydney Playground Project: Popping the bubblewrap—Unleashing the power of play: A cluster randomized controlled trial of a primary school playground-based intervention aiming to increase children’s physical activity and social skills. BMC Public Health 2011.
