Children's freedom to play is 'restricted'
Children are facing serious restrictions on adventurous play such as climbing a tree or riding a bike, according to a survey for this week's Playday event.
The National Children's Bureau (NCB) commissioned interviews with 1,000 children aged seven to 16 and 1,032 adults. The survey found that over half of children aged seven to 12 are not allowed to climb a tree without an adult present, the local park is out of bounds for 42 per cent, and a third cannot play in the street or ride a bike to a friend's house unsupervised.
However, the survey found parents more permissive about computers, with over three-quarters of children allowed to surf the internet unsupervised.
This year's theme for the NCB's Playday, celebrating children's right to play, is 'Give us a go!'. It is calling for children to be given more opportunities for adventurous, challenging play, and for society to shake off the 'cotton-wool' culture that limits children's play.
Playday 2008 takes place on Wednesday 6 August, with hundreds of locally organised events around the UK.
For information see www.playday.org.uk.
