h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just saw this article on the BBC news site this morning and I am fuming! I never thought about how lucky I was to have a such a fantastic, liberated and enjoyable childhood until now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2158711.stm

How pathetic! Don't the people who make these rules have memories? Don't they remember how, whenever you fell down when you were 6 years old, no matter how many times, you cried a bit, got the graze seen to and ran (limped) straight back out to play again!

>>how lucky I was to have a such a fantastic, liberated and enjoyable childhood

You forgot "healthy".

All young animals run around and play together (just look at a litter of puppies and the squeals they makes in their rough and tumble) it is nature's way of the young learning their own abilities/limitations. To prevent children from doing what comes naturally can only create development problems. Whilst the lack of natural exercise will only go to contribute to the poor health of our children.

As a teacher I can only say that the more they run around at break times the better they will settle to work after break.As we all know those who sit down at a PC for long hours are encouraged to get up and move around nay even STAND to make sure they get rid of possible kinks and RSI.Stands to reason children have to do the same.

However perhaps if parents were less likely to sue at the drop of a hat maybe the authorities might be able to relax and children be encouraged to play as they have always done.

I can't think of one fellow member of my peer group who ever suffered from making daisy chains and I regret that I can no longer do handstands,walk on my hands,cartwheels,and be a crab as I did with such enthusiasm when young.Too old and arthritic now.The worst we got was a few scabbed knees and a cuddle and a plaster off the nurse,dinner lady,teacher as a result.Now children get the plaster and no cuddle.Sad times we have come to.I hate it when a child is sobbing their heart out and I can't even offer the comfort of a shoulder to weep into.

Incog.

Ironically, they recently said that children these days were experiencing asthma and alergies due to being brought up in a sterile environment where they do not develop resistance to germs. Stopping children doing things like make daisy chains is probably adding to this. It's a crazy world.

When my sons do anything remotely dangerous at school (climbing, canoeing etc.) I have to sign a disclaimer saying I fully understand the dangers involved, but still permit my son to participate. Surely they could do the same with regard to playground games?

This blame culture that we're being forced to live in is really beginning to get on my s ... Why does it always have to be someone elses fault?

As has already been said, growing up is a trial and error thing ... you try and do a handstand, you fail and bang your head ... either you decide that handstands aren't really your thing and so stick to standing on your legs - that's what they're their for afterall - or you decide that you're determined to learn and battle through the bruises.

It frightens me to think that there is going to be a whole generation of people with all the commonsense of a dead halibut, ritually stumbling into potholes, walking into lamp-posts and blundering off Beachy Head all because they were wrapped in cotton-wool in their youth.

It's not just the fact that todays society seems inclined to sue for any mishap that may occur.
The biggest reason kids aren't allowed to develop naturally is that most parents don't feel it's safe to let their children play unsupervised.

The media is constantly reporting horror stories of abducted children, would you feel comfortable letting your child walk the streets alone these days?

When I was young (seems like an ice age ago) from the age I started school, every evening was spent playing outside with mates, getting into trouble and generally causing a nuisance. But these days parents are so worried about wierdos, they would rather kids sit at home safe and play on thier playstations.

Unfortunately, the culture of 'blame' and litigation is nothing new. About 20 years ago my mother-in-law taught at a primary school. One day a child fell and broke its leg - don't ask how, 'cos I don't know. My mother-in-law was in no way responsible (she was on playground duty, but nobody can be everywhere at the same time), but the child's parents decided to take her to court anyway. My mother-in-law got little support from the school - the best you can say is that they didn't suspend her - and the case was thrown out. However, it affected her health and she had to take early retirement.

I agree, though, that some people are trying to be *too* protective of their children. Parents won't allow children to walk to school for fear of kidnappers / child molesters. Nobody thinks of groups of children walking together, which would be much less prone to such attacks which are actually very rare anyway. Other playground pursuits that have been banned are conkers and skipping. Next thing you know they'll ban cookery lessons in case the poor dears get food poisoning.

Personally, as a child I wished they'd ban sports lessons. I was never any good at sport (I enjoyed swimming, but I'm not a strong swimmer) and was always one of the last to be picked for team sports like netball. You're as likely to be injured playing sport as you are in a playground. I should know. I never was injured in a playground, but got a nosebleed when I collided with another fielder when running for a rounders ball.

I agree with you Simon, but I have to add that there have always been child abusers - you just get to hear about it more now.

What about playing in the back garden/backyard? Do we stop kids going round to their friends houses to play in case they hurt themselves - or indeed not letting your kids friends come round to your house for fear of being sued?

I also read recently that there is a booklet advising parents to ban Musical Chairs at parties because it is "too violent". AND some schools have banned football because it is too competitive!

>>Commonsense of a dead halibut....nice analogy Ekki!

In this day and age, it's not so important for people to be strong and athletic.
Very few jobs require the physical strength needed say 100 years ago.

Playing rough and tumble with your siblings and friends is how we find our physical limitations, as someone wisely pointed out, but how important are they in this day and age?

Does it matter that Johnny is stronger than Tommy? Will it affect their survival in the same way it did when these insticts developed?

I believe it's still vital to give kids as much exercise as possible, simply for health reasons, and I don't think you can totally ignore instinctive behavior without causing some side effects, but I don't think my son will be any worse off in life just because he doesn't get to play British Bulldog.

Are there really more nutters around or is it simply that we hear of there being more nutters?

I grew up on a farm and so had loads of space in which to expend my energy ... surrounded by woods we played as without a care in the world. The fact that the local "State Hospital" [read nut house] had frequent breakouts and about 10 escapees were found at one time or another, hiding out in the woods where we'd played oblivious. The fact that it had happened and could easily have happened again didn't prevent us from still playing there ...

Perhaps I'm romanticising the situation but there we go - it wasn't all that long ago really ...

But don't children have to release their energy somehow? How can they do this when they aren't allowed to run? Though I am not a parent, I woulnd't like my children to come out of school all hyper-mode because their teachers don't let them play tag.

And that stuff about the daisy-chains is total bull-s**t. Since when are germs lying on the ground? (as said in the article) That is the same kind of logic as saying homosexuality is contageous. It has even been proven that a non-sterile environment is better for your imunesystem and therefor better for your health. People that have a cat or a dog forinstance are on average more healthy than those who don't.

I agree that there probably are just as many 'nutters' around as there always has been. We just see more of them reported in the media. Does the media dramatise this kind of thing too much?

Another big factor is the number of cars on the road these days. This greatly resticts the space our children have to safely play in, especially in urban areas.

We used to race wooden go-carts and skateboards up and down my road. These days it can take you 5 minutes just to cross without getting run over by a car. Trying to ride a go-cart down it would be suicide!

Gardens are getting smaller, Roads are getting busier, and nutters are getting scarier.
Anyone got any solutions??????

People may not need their physical strength so much these days for work, but lets not see the day when people are so unfit and weak they cannot push start a car, chop wood lift heavy furniture etc.

My sons are extremely fit AND strong, probably partly because there are 4 of them and they are always fighting at home. They always maintain that if they were confronted with an agressor, they could easily out-run them and are probably right.

It's worth understanding why these ridiculous laws exist. If a child is hurt in the playground, the parents will look to someone other than the child or bad luck to blame. They'll blame the school for not ensuring that there was no possible way for their child to come to harm. As a result, schools enforce these ridiculous rules to prevent themselves being sued by parents if their kids fall and graze their knee in the playground.

You want someone to blame for this, blame greed and societies stupidity.

Gardens are getting smaller, Roads are getting busier, and nutters are getting scarier.
Anyone got any solutions??????

Short of spending huge amounts on a public transport system that works consistently and reliably so we can get some cars off the roads, shooting all the nutters and building houses with more land around them there's not a lot to be done *deep sighs*

I can't believe about 20 years ago I was pedalling my cycle down country lanes with the only proviso being that I was back by dark, how times have changed! Yes there were nutters around then, there always has been from time immemorial. But as they say, our brains are bombarded with more information in a day than our ancestors were in a whole lifetime. And that's all down to the fact that we hear stories from all over the planet. Not so many years ago you were lucky to hear of any gossip from the neighbouring village!!!

And I hate the way people are so happy to sue at the drop of a hat these days. We're just such a money grabbing society at times. Yes, accidents do happen. But why are they called that? Becuase they happen accidentally maybe? Because there is no real blame to be apportioned perhaps? Then why do we need finacial recompense for such things? Kids play, they hurt themselves occasionally too!! (Looks at the bruises on her sons forehead because he's just reached that height where he hits it on the table nearly everytime he runs into the kitchen) But you can't really think it's a good idea to sue the school because your child fell over and cut/bruised or broke something. It's just a way of taking resources away from a possibly already overstretched budget and the only people who suffer in the long run are the children.

It's just not sensible to try and wrap our kids in cotton wool, as much as we would like to!

And my bit said I'll shut up and stop waffling now

Is it really true that people in the UK are more ready to sue someone/anyone/everyone else after they or their kids have had an accident? I always thought that this was really more of a US phenomenon. Certainly there seems to be a much greater FEAR of being sued but does it really happen all that often?

Both of my boys have managed to split their heads open while travelling at high speed in the school playground - but the thought of suing the school just doesn't come into it.

Where the US leads we meekly follow.

Incog.

don't think it's all that bad...
It's not like it's a nationwide totally inclusive ban on every single activity listed, I think the daisy chains were only an issue in one school. And it is not particularly new. When I was at school and playing games (not so long ago but before the perceived mass rise in both nutters and legal action) we were *never* allowed to play Bulldog and eventually chain tig was banned since 90% of the playground got involved and the remaining kiddies were often knocked over. We were discouraged from conkers, yoyos etc. not due to danger but because they were toys and could be disruptive in class. Fair enough. I think a lot of these bans result from a single, or several, accidents in which children were injured and which the school is understandably anxious to avoid.

So I guess the best we can do is 'personally' ensure our kids get as much energetic playtime as we can.
Admittedly playing footy at the local park with your mum or dad isn't the same as 'bulldog' or 'chain tag' with your mates. But it sure beats being stuck in front of a telly or games console on a nice sunny day.

Lets not just blame society for this problem, for we are society. Get off your bums and go have some rough and tumble fun with your kids, nieces and nephews!