Outdoor play is deemed to be a high-risk activity for unintentional injuries in children (Brussoni et al., 2012) though limitations placed on the child to reduce risk while participating in these activities can be associated with development problems in both a physical and mental sense. This reduction in the child’s development can be highly damaging, and can create additional risks including obesity, mental health concerns, difficulty with independence and the decreased ability to learn, …show more content…
Free play can be characterised into three categories; physical activity play, object play and pretend play(Smithson, Garside, &, Pearson, 2010). Physical play is classified as a high-risk activity as it engages in elements including but not limited to heights, speeds, dangerous tools and elements. Though associated with risk it is essential to development and learning. Children report to be at their happiest when engaging in free play, but the opportunity is rapidly decreasing with increased sedentary activities available (Brussoni et al., 2012) which delays child development has been associated with a reduce sense of control and ability to control emotion, increased social isolation and reduced happiness which are all associated with anxiety and depression (Smithson, Garside, &, Pearson, …show more content…
In society parents can be affected by culture, media of all types and all forms of research that promoted different views of child’s safety. Some platforms can campaign for an over-protective lifestyle majorly hindering on the child’s development, commonly unknown to the mother. Others make believe there is excessive health and safety regulations that diminish children’s outdoor play opportunities. With many different sources providing all levels of credible information to today’s society it creates problematic issues with the prevention of unintentional injuries to children. In addition, further difficulties are faced by the young or lesser educated parents who do not understand factors of child development (Smithson, Garside, &, Pearson, 2010), as the struggle to predict the rate of the child’s development therefore they are unable to safeguard the environment for which the child is located. The mother’s role in safeguarding children is adequate in the cultural (Smithson, Garside, &, Pearson, 2010) for which they are brought up in, though a shift in surrounding cultural can create further risk as the environment is unknown to the other therefore there is a distinct lack of