Parenting This kind of helicopter parenting is a relatively new phenomena. Roger Hart, a British geography student, decided in 1972 to write his dissertation about the movement of 86 elementary school kids in Vermont. Over the course of two years, he created a geographical map of children that showed where and how far they typically traveled from home (Rosin). By today’s standards this sounds slightly creepy, but this instinctual negative reaction actually illustrates a very important point Hart later makes in his research. Instead of interviewing parents, Hart simply wandered around with the children who led him to places other adults had never seen before. This glimpse inside a hidden child culture seems foreign now, with kids spending hours
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Ellen Sandseter’s 2011 work titled “Children’s Risky Play From an Evolutionary Perspective: The Anti-Phobic Effects of Thrilling Experiences” supports this argument by concluding that when children satisfy the sensory need to taste excitement and danger, it scares them and they overcome that fear. The six types of risky play are 1) Discovering heights 2) Wielding tools like sharp knives or hefty hammers 3) Tempting the elements – playing near a roaring fire or rushing water 4) Engaging in rough play, such as wrestling, so kids learn cooperation and negotiate aggression 5) Experiencing speed on a bike or skis, for example 6) Exploring alone (Rosin). This last practice is especially vital, considering Roger Hart’s research, since the Vermont kids learned to take full responsibility when they were left to roam the woods. The International School Grounds Alliance confirms that a little bit of risk helps children develop conflict management, leadership skills, and physical strength (Van). Risky play has even been compared to exposure therapy, where going through an uncertain habitat can help them overcome a fear. Left untreated, however, fears manifest themselves into phobias; today’s overprotected and coddled children have higher reported levels of psychopathology. Youngsters who actually fall from heights between the ages of 5 and 9 were less likely to be scared of heights by age 18 (Rosin). Kyung-Hee Kom, a College of William and Mary psychologist and author of a 2011 paper “The Creativity Crisis,” compared Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and discovered the scores of American children declining over the past decade. Kids in the U.S. have become less energetic, less imaginative, less humorous, less perceptive, less lively and passionate, less talkative, and less likely to see things from
Ellen Sandseter’s 2011 work titled “Children’s Risky Play From an Evolutionary Perspective: The Anti-Phobic Effects of Thrilling Experiences” supports this argument by concluding that when children satisfy the sensory need to taste excitement and danger, it scares them and they overcome that fear. The six types of risky play are 1) Discovering heights 2) Wielding tools like sharp knives or hefty hammers 3) Tempting the elements – playing near a roaring fire or rushing water 4) Engaging in rough play, such as wrestling, so kids learn cooperation and negotiate aggression 5) Experiencing speed on a bike or skis, for example 6) Exploring alone (Rosin). This last practice is especially vital, considering Roger Hart’s research, since the Vermont kids learned to take full responsibility when they were left to roam the woods. The International School Grounds Alliance confirms that a little bit of risk helps children develop conflict management, leadership skills, and physical strength (Van). Risky play has even been compared to exposure therapy, where going through an uncertain habitat can help them overcome a fear. Left untreated, however, fears manifest themselves into phobias; today’s overprotected and coddled children have higher reported levels of psychopathology. Youngsters who actually fall from heights between the ages of 5 and 9 were less likely to be scared of heights by age 18 (Rosin). Kyung-Hee Kom, a College of William and Mary psychologist and author of a 2011 paper “The Creativity Crisis,” compared Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and discovered the scores of American children declining over the past decade. Kids in the U.S. have become less energetic, less imaginative, less humorous, less perceptive, less lively and passionate, less talkative, and less likely to see things from