Let Kids Do Risky Things
If you’re going to make your kids tough (which they better be if they’re going to survive in this world!) you can’t interfere when they’re doing risky things.
By imposing too many restrictions we can actually hinder a child’s development. Research suggests that children may seek challenging and interesting “risky play” opportunities elsewhere, if they are not able to obtain them in public play areas first. This could include exploring wasteland and building sites where the risk of injury is much higher.
Therefore, through supporting the act of taking risks out in nature - whether that be in a forest, by a lake, at the beach - we are actually keeping our children safer overall.
This is also known as “risky play” which will help your child to:
Develop skills to handle the feelings of nervousness and fear that can come with trying new things.
Establish the foundations for regulating these emotions in adulthood.
Learn that they can manage their fear, overcome it, and come out the other side.
Have the opportunity to display both courage and physical skills to themselves and their peers
In the article Risky Play and Children’s Safety: Balancing Priorities for Optimal Child Development, Mariana Brussoni and colleauges highlight the need to balance outdoor risky play with efforts to maintain safety.
They share the suggestion of replacing “as safe as possible” with “as safe as necessary”.
Remember: Risk and danger are 2 different things.
Risk taking is a helpful skill.
Danger is what we want to avoid.
By encouraging “risky play” we are allowing our children to establish their own regulatory system for what a manageable level of risk looks like.