“You want children without anxiety and capable of taking risks and chasing their dreams? Let them experience risky games outdoors, free, without your control. Fewer structured activities, fewer displays. More dangers, more freedom. They will learn to manage uncertainty, risk and anxiety. And their development will be healthy.”
I am the one who says it years of studies carried out by Mariana Brussoni, Extraordinary researcher, born in Uruguay with Italian origins, known throughout the world for her research on the relationship between risky outdoor games and healthy development. Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of British Columbia University in Vancouver, Canada, Brussoni directs the Human Early Learning Partnership, a research center at the University that brings together scientists from different disciplines to improve the well-being of children.
“We parents are trapped in a paradox. We desperately want to keep our children safe and ensure their success. We are terrified that they will get hurt and fail. So we do everything we can to prevent this from happening. The result? Many of these Efforts to manage our fears have paradoxically reduced our children’s safety and their chances of success.”
If you were born before the 80s-90s, try to think about your childhood. You will probably have played freely on the streets, in local parks and in abandoned places. And you will probably remember a sense of joy, freedom and independence. “This is the type of childhood common to almost all of human history. Today, however, it is rare and the consequences can prove catastrophic…”.
Brussoni has received numerous awards for the excellence of his research and for his contribution to the promotion of this type of game. “Natural development dictates that children experience fear. Fears actually have an evolutionary purpose. Risky play is how these fears are faced and eliminated.”
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What is meant by risky games?
“Playing with heights, speed (bicycle, sled), using hammers, knives, playing near elements such as fire or water, violent play, wandering around the neighborhood without an adult..”
What are the benefits?
“Children acquire skills. Mastery of terror, ability to overcome fears and manage risk, self-esteem and resilience. They learn that when things go wrong, and it can happen in play as in life, the world does not end and that one is capable of facing challenges. This is very important.”
What is the relationship between risky games and anxiety disorders?
“At the basis of anxiety is fear and intolerance of uncertainty. Things that cannot be predicted or controlled are considered scary. And to be avoided. Risky gambling, on the other hand, implies a constant relationship with uncertainty. Children don’t know how things will end: it could be good or bad. The reward is an exciting and thrilling feeling. Strong emotions that can be ambiguous and confused with anxiety and fear. The mind decides whether the stimulus is positive or negative. With play, children practice recognizing emotions and considering them positive. The world is full of uncertainty. And children must be able to manage it and even embrace it. “
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The praise of risk…
“We must take risks in life if we want to achieve greater rewards, Like love, adventure, joy…”
According to research by Killian Mullan, between 1975 and 2015, outdoor play among UK children decreased by 29.4%, while computer-based or structured activities increased by 22.4%. What has changed?
“There are several factors. During the ’70s, with the first major economic crisis since the post-war period, which was followed by others in the ’80s and ’90s, parents, worried about the future of their children in a competitive world, started pushing towards intensive education. They favored structured and supervised activities, to allow their children to enter the “right” schools and access the “right” (i.e. prestigious) professions. But there is much more… “
Maybe the fact that the world has become more dangerous?
“There is the perception of a dangerous world. With access to the media and then to social media, stories of crimes and dangers, even if remote or rare, have become more visible. This has led many parents not to let out children at home for safety reasons. Yet the world has never been so safe. Then urban growth and the planning of cities around the use of cars have reduced accessible public spaces for play. fewer children. Children have fewer opportunities to have older siblings to explore the world with.
At the same time, the leading causes of child death were changing. Diseases such as tuberculosis and polio no longer posed a threat. The main cause of death has become accidents (particularly road accidents). Thus the field of accident prevention has become very important. Huge advances emerged from this work, such as seat belts, but the approach lacked nuance…”
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What should parents do?
“They need to recognize their deepest values. Do they really want to raise their children this way? Being a parent is really difficult, and it’s even more difficult when there is a background noise that criticizes your choices and makes you feel a failure. We want to help parents tune into the deepest values for their children. And give them 3 things: space, time and freedom. On our site we have a wonderful and free tool to identify these values and change.
Were you a child who played risky games?
“I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s. I was encouraged to leave the house and not come back until dinner time. My brothers and I would roam the neighborhood and do whatever we wanted. I wasn’t one to took risks, but in the context of today’s childhood, much of what we did would probably be seen as risky…” .
Why did you decide to deal with this area?
“Once I finished my PhD in developmental psychology, I started working on the prevention of childhood injuries. At the time, there was a tendency to prevent risks as much as possible. Risk was seen as synonymous with danger. However, all of this was in contrasted with what I knew about child development and with a more holistic view of well-being, which also considered physical activity, mental health and social development. I spent years studying to understand why this approach bothered me so much… Then the Norwegian researcher Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter published her studies on risky gambling. When I read her work, my research focused only on risky gambling. Finally I became a mother…”.
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What do you want for your children?
“There is an episode that remained imprinted in my mind and made me understand how deep-rooted these fears were. When my little son was 5 years old, I invited him to go to the park with his older sister to play freely. Looking up at me, he said: “But they will kidnap me!”. As you can imagine, I had never shared these ideas with him affected his sense of security. It made me very sad and even more determined to change things.”
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She has been quoted in nearly 500 media articles and documentaries around the world. Dal New York Times a The Atlantic, dal The Washington Post a Popular Science. There are also numerous scientific articles. What made the difference for you?
“My ideas were very controversial when I started this research, but along the way I have had wonderful mentors, people who have supported me, incredible colleagues from all over the world with whom I have collaborated. And there is one last thing I would like add…”
Nail…
“I don’t want a return to an idealized past. Even then there were many things that weren’t right. I want to offer children opportunities for play, time and freedom every day. At home, in nursery, at school. Wherever they spend their time. time. We have created tools for parents, for educators, for teachers. They are free on our site. We have carried out in-depth research and tests. I dream that everyone can benefit from them to escape the paradox.”
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