It is our summer school holidays of six weeks and there are kids everywhere! Free range chooks lay free range eggs. You are supposed to somehow mystically taste that these eggs came from chooks that are happier, healthier, more at peace, than caged chooks. No?
Well, I can’t tell the difference either. It may be more productive to consider other things that could do with more freedom – like kids!
A change in children’s leisure
It’s saddening to see new suburbs being built with huge houses on tiny blocks, no backyard, and a park somewhere close. Someone made the comment last year that no wonder the Aussie cricket team was doing poorly, because kids growing up these days no longer have a backyard to play cricket in!
Children are becoming reliant on (or could I say addicted to) electronic means of entertainment. Movies, computer games, TV, where someone else has created a reality in which you can immerse yourself without the need to actually relate to another human being.
There seems to be an overload of a limited kind of mental stimulation at the expense of true character development.
Protection obsession
This also feeds into our obsession about keeping our children safe from harm – we have become overly protective.
There’s a circular argument here: we want our kids to grow up resilient and able to cope but we don’t allow them to experience hardship or failure because they might get hurt. But unless they get hurt they won’t be able to empathise with others or learn how to cope themselves.
Children develop the frontal lobe of their brain when taking risks, meaning they work out consequences. "You can't teach them that. They have to learn risk on their own terms. It doesn't develop by watching TV, they have to get out there." (AUT professor of public health Grant Schofield)
Train up a child….
Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6 says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it”. This is usually applied to character traits such as politeness, compassion, generosity and even belief in God.
But it also is just as valid in a different sense and it shows up the way that we often instill fear and ineptitude in our children by default, thinking that we are protecting them:
- “Don’t play with that sharp knife – you might cut yourself”. But if you train the child to use a sharp knife properly to whittle a stick, or build something, he won’t cut himself. If he does, he’ll learn from it and it probably won’t happen again.
- “Don’t climb up that tree – you’ll fall out”. But if you show her how to climb, testing the branches and making sure of footholds and handholds, chances are she won’t fall. She’ll climb wherever she feels she can (which is often higher than you are comfortable watching) and then come back down again.
- “Don’t go so close to the edge – it’s very far to fall and you might slip”. But teach him how to take care to look over the edge and he will gain a healthy respect for heights but not the fear that may cause him to stumble and slip.
- “Hey watch out – that fire’s hot – it might burn you if you get too close”. But if you teach her how to light the fire and how differently things burn, she will grow up using fire responsibly.
I learnt this lesson before I was a mother. I was having a cuppa in a courtyard with a friend who had two toddlers with her. In horror I watched one of them start to climb a stairway on the outside of the railing. When I nudged her, my friend, quite unperturbed, glanced over and said “oh he’s ok, he’ll find his level and then come back down”. Sure enough, he did!
Natural schooling
Enter kindergartens in the wild, or nature schools, which are occupying a unique niche, particularly in Europe. While there are some in Australia, the concept hasn’t really caught on – yet!
This outdoor education movement centres on building character by allowing children to take risks and learn for themselves.
The basic premise of the Student Outcomes and Natural Schooling report (2016) is that over the past decade or so, children have become increasingly disconnected from the natural environment. This is an extremely comprehensive report with an extensive bibliography, well worth a read (or scan – it’s quite long) if you are at all concerned about how our children are growing up.
One of the points made by the report is that there was strong evidence that a lack of exposure to natural environments harmed children's "character capabilities" — skills such as self-regulation, empathy, creativity, and innovation.
Let children be children – we need to simplify childhood again and let them learn life skills!
Then there is architect Takaharu Tezuka, who designed a huge circular kindergarten where kids are safe but can still climb trees and run to their heart’s content. He comments that they won’t melt if it rains – they’re waterproof. If they want to run away, just wait, they’ll be back.
The recurring theme seems to be that allowing children to take risks, prove themselves, solve problems and get physical, will result in sound character development, leading to empathy towards people and respect for property.
Let us rise above Job’s fear when dealing with our children. Let’s grow free range kids!
Aira Chilcott B.Sc (Hons), M. Contemp Sci, Cert IV in Christian Ministry and Theology, Cert IV in Training and Evaluation, Grad Dip Ed., began her working life at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, investigating characteristics of cancer cells. Turning to teaching in the Christian school system provided opportunities to learn theology, more science, mission trips and explore the outdoors through bushwalking and other exploits. Now retired, Aira is a panellist for Young Writers and volunteers at a nature park. Aira is married to Bill and they have three adult sons.
Aira Chilcott's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/aira-chilcott.html