is the winner of Seed's Threadless contest)
Yesterday, I heard on the CBC, an interesting story about Dr. William Bird, who is Natural England's health expert. Natural England is an organization that:
"... will work for people, places and nature, to enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas; promoting access, recreation and public well-being, and contributing to the way natural resources are managed so that they can be enjoyed now and in the future."
Anyway, Dr. Bird is most well known for attempting to evaluate the stress reduction properties of being with nature - i.e. that collective sense of "ahhhh" when you happen to outside in the open space with wilderness or natural landscapes around you.
However, this story focused on a recent anthropological-type study by Christine Hancock (European Director of the Oxford Health Alliance) that looked at the playing boundaries of children from different generations. The abstract is kind of cool and reads:
Four generations from one family living in Sheffield from 1919 to 2007 will present to conference delegates what access to green space means to them and the role it has played in the childhoods of the older generations, compared with that of younger generations; illustrating the reduced area of space that an 8 year old is allowed to go with friends.
Specifically, the four generations who all inhabited the same house, were the Great Grand Father (aged 88), Grandfather (60+), Mother (36yrs), and Son (8yrs). As well, their respective playing boundaries as a child hovered around (this is what I remember from the radio piece anyway); "didn't matter as long as he was back by teatime", "about 6 miles", "about 1 mile", and "a few hundred metres"
What was interesting is why this leash effect had transpired and had much to do with both the advent of automobiles, the ever increasing number of things to do at home, and the media reports of things like child abductions.
The automobile angle is pretty clear in that the first two generations were really living in a time where car traffic was either not an issue at all, or an issue in a very minor way. It was with the mother, apparently, where the reins were tightened because of traffic. In fact, the anecdote that was presented showed that even with the one mile limit, this was further restricted in that a portion of it wasn't accessible unless a parent was present to help her "cross the road" and even there, the problem existed that some of her friends weren't allowed to go that far.
In the earlier generations, it looked like a lot of the freedom was available, because there just weren't many options available in the house. Consumption desires were less so (fewer things like books and toys, etc), and as well, television and computer related opportunities were simply not present. It sounded like, a big part of the why older generations could go farther is that they simply had more time to explore, since it was the norm to "just get out of the house."
The abduction side of the issue was especially interesting, because the reality of statistics suggested that child abduction rates haven't actually changed in the last one hundred years or so, and it turns out a lot of the restriction of roaming space afforded to children is partly a cultural thing - where a parent will be viewed as irresponsible if they let were less strict.
The overall effect, of course, is that children are subjected to shorter and shorter leashes, and this has a variety of effects from the stand point of environmental literacy. It relates to the fact that kids these days simply have less opportunity and exposure to their outside community, and that this lack of exposure leads to a sort of environmental ignorance. It's part and parcel to a previous post I put up about Pokemon recognition.
I think this is a valid statement - I know my fondest playing memories tend to be simply those when I'm away from my parents, just doing whatever outside - playing, exploring, pretending, etc.
As well, Dr. Bird would go so far as to suggest that the lack of stress reduction effects of being familiar with the "outdoors" could also have a tremendous mental health impact. In fact, some of his studies suggest that the window of opportunity for a child to "get this benefit" passes quickly around the age of 12.
Anyway, hopefully, the research will be published proper in the near future -but for now, it's certainly food for thought.
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