Bubble-wrapped Children are “ Street Stupid ”

Today ’ s parents and carers are so worried about injury, bullying and ‘stranger danger’, that they are creating a generation of overprotected, bubble-wrapped children, a conference by the Irish Preschool and Playgroup Association heard last week.

Addressing the conference, Bob Hughes, national co-ordinator for play in Britain warned that in the rush to protect children from outside dangers, children are growing up “ street stupid ” . Furthermore, watching too much TV and not getting enough time to play is more likely to result in unhappy, aggressive children who are unable to make friends, he said.

Mr Hughes said that the most common reasons given by parents for not allowing their children out to play were fear of predatory adults and traffic. However, increasingly, parents are not allowing their children out simply because they are afraid they might hurt themselves. “The potential impact of this phenomenon is a generation of children who are clumsy, unsocial, anxious and . . . street stupid as opposed to street wise.”

Mr Hughes warned that there will be “a price to pay” if children are notallowed to play. Free play, as opposed to the structured play of after-school activities is particularly important, he argued.

Irene Gunning, chief executive of the IPPA, said that is was important that children be allowed free time to use their imagination and creativity in play and she urged parents to allow their children to be bored sometimes rather than rushing them from one activity to the other.

“Years ago when a child got bored the responsibility lay with them to go and do something and be imaginative,” said Ms Gunning.

Posted Thursday 8th May 2008