Don’t deny kids outdoor adventure

I was in Southbank recently and saw two large branches had fallen off gum trees. A group of kids picked them up and were knocking them together, making noise and breaking them.

They were squealing with enjoyment in the middle of Melbourne’s concrete jungle. With a bit of nature, they’d created their own fun. Sadly, if council officers came along, they’d have removed the branches and put a stop to it.

It’s a growing problem that so many people are worried about kids being exposed to even a little risk. They’re taking the fun out of growing up and they’re in danger of exposing their kids to much worse.

If kids don’t get outside playing and interacting with others, they’re at serious risk of mental health problems, obesity, diabetes and more.

One in five kids in Geelong already experience some sort of mental disorder, according to Barwon Health researchers. That’s 12,000 kids.

We don’t fully know the causes but we know our society has changed drastically in recent decades.

Marriage break-ups are very disruptive to children’s lives, too much screen-time, excessive sugar and fatty junk food, cottonwool kids driven to school instead of walking or riding, helicopter parents fussing excessively over their kids…

These all contribute to nature-deficit syndrome. It’s what happens to kids stuck inside on games and phones and iPads.

Professor Peter Vuillermin tells me the relationship between nature connectedness and mental health is a question being tackled in the Barwon Infant Study.

Peter is Chair in Medicine and Director of Research at Deakin University/Barwon Health University Hospital Geelong.

“Early life experiences are an important determinant of life-long mental health,” he says.

“Our modern environment is associated with an increasing burden of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, and many researchers are interested in the concept of “nature connectedness” as a protective factor.

“However, improved evidence is needed. We hope the findings will contribute to providing our kids with a healthy and happy start to life.”

At Villawood, in the meantime, we’re creating playgrounds with as much challenge and risk as Australian standards and councils will allow. We use basic elements or kids to play in – timbers, trees, rocks, water and sand.

A key focus of our society is protecting our kids but there are too many anxious parents and authorities keeping kids from physical challenges they need to face.

The risk mitigation they’re using to rule kids’ lives is actually putting the long-term physical and emotional development of kids in danger.