CYP Now - Analysis: Safety - Let them experience some danger

A leading accident prevention charity wants to expand a network of schemes where children and young people experience risk in safe settings. But some play professionals question the wisdom of trying to replicate the real thing, writes Nancy Rowntree.

Paedophiles prowl internet chat rooms and street corners. Food is packed with additives and fat. Parents have become increasingly fearful and litigious, threatening school trips and children's freedom. Or so it can seem.

Last week the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) called for a massive expansion of initiatives such as Learning About Safety by Exploring Risk schemes, which create fake, but realistic, settings, like roads and gardens, where children can experience risk in a controlled environment. (CYP Now, 7-13 November).

"It's not about saying the world is a big dangerous place," says RoSPA's head of leisure safety Peter Cornall. "But if children can learn about personal safety and get equipped with life skills, that will give them the freedom to experience an active life."

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