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ENCOURAGE RISK TAKING THROUGH ADVENTUROUS PLAY
AND DON'T OVER-PROTECT CHILDREN,
URGE PARENTS IN BOWOOD SURVEY.
Parents bringing their children along to the Adventure Playground at Bowood House & Gardens (nr. Calne, Wiltshire) are clearly concerned about the future ramifications of over-protecting today's youngsters, according to a snapshot survey conducted by the popular Wiltshire family attraction this summer. Keen to encourage boys and girls to take risks and indulge in active and imaginative outdoor play, the same parents identify the aspects of contemporary culture that they feel pose the greatest threat to children's welfare. Equally, they also recognise specific benefits and opportunities that they never had themselves when young.
Parents participating in Bowood's survey fear the ramifications of over protecting today's children and avoiding even a responsible level of risk. Children who don't explore and evaluate risk and danger won't be able to discover their own limits and are likely to more accident-prone. If children's thinking becomes controlled and their imaginations aren't explored, their perceptions are bound to be narrower; they won't be so streetwise and able to fend for themselves. Overanxious parents and timid, reserved children go hand-in-hand as a molly-coddled childhood with reduced choices leads to less fun, freedom, common sense and confidence. Children will be less able to think for themselves and make informed decisions. Boredom, poor judgement, fearfulness and spending too much time indoors is unhealthy for a child's development when they should be outside discovering nature and engaging with their peer group. A lack of exercise, lower fitness levels, increased weight and obesity spells trouble too. The concerned parents who were questioned feared that rather than children turning into well-rounded individuals, a generation of indecisive, wary adults, dependent on others would ensue if not allowed to take controlled risks. The inadequacies of a future generation would inevitably gain ground in generations to follow.
In the Bowood questionnaire, the 50 parents canvassed drew on their own childhood experiences and highlighted the same activities they now encourage in their own children. Tree climbing, country walks, making dens, horse-riding, role-playing, pond dipping and even 'eating mud' were among some of the halcyon pursuits they recalled which they are keen for their children to pursue.
Yet, questionnaire respondents also identified their youthful activities which they now feel anxious about their own children undertaking. While 38% of those questioned had no such anxieties the remainder definitely have fears about letting their children play outside unsupervised, in public spaces, out in the street and going off on their own. 'I wandered much further afield for longer periods of time and I used to play in a nearby wood and that would worry me with my girls,' said one parent while another commented 'I was allowed to go off on my bike on my own for miles at a young age which I don't think I'd allow now' and yet another added, 'I would not let them out to play in the woods alone as we did'.
When it comes to the aspects of modern culture that are considered to present the greatest threat to children's welfare a wide breadth of concerns was covered with media reports and pressures, peer pressure, paedophiles, street gangs, yob culture, drugs and alcohol, Facebook, mobile phones, too many cars, growing up too quickly, parents pressurising children to overachieve and lack of parental interest all making it onto the list.
Health and safety regulations appear to throw up some confusion though, with some parents believing them to be better than in years gone by, some feeling they are wanting and others concerned that today's health and safety regulations restrict a child's healthy development.
Too much TV, computer games and the internet were repeatedly cited as the greatest threat to children's welfare yet when asked about the particular benefits available to today's children that weren't to their parents, TV, the internet and information technology all made it back on to the list again with similar repetition and one parent saying that such technology provides 'access to a world of information that we couldn't even guess at'. Increased affluence, affordability and choice of family pursuits and sporting activities were all identified as definite modern benefits as were social events, the increase in the number of after-school clubs and dedicated play areas, water parks and adventure playgrounds.
Any over anxious parents should consider two particular comments that were received back in the questionnaire: "Parents don't seem to realise these days that kids are quite 'bouncy' and a bit of 'rough and tumble' won't kill them! It's good for mental health too," said one while another asked, "Is there more risk than in the 70s or do we just have more access to the information now?"
Bowood's owner, Lord Lansdowne said "A recent ICM report found that children are being denied adventurous play because their parents are nervous about exposing them to risk. So - despite our own survey having been conducted on a much smaller scale - it is definitely heartening to hear back from parents who clearly understand the importance of allowing children to embrace adventure and grapple with a responsible level of risk. Similarly, last year we conducted a survey among children and they themselves revealed their thirst for energetic and outdoor play."
Bowood's Adventure Playground certainly played its part in kick-starting the outward bound spirits of polar explorer, David Hempleman-Adams's three daughters, as he explains: "The girls virtually grew up in Bowood's Adventure Playground. I brought them along here for some spirited outdoor play that has helped them test their boundaries and confront some thrilling challenges. As soon as they arrived at the playground, they would head straight for Bowood's famous 'space dive' - I've scaled some heights but you'd be hard pushed to get me going down that myself!" This April, as part of a polar expedition team led by her father, Camilla Hempleman-Adams (aged 15) became the youngest British woman ever to ski to the North Pole.
"Just as Camilla started to test her boundaries from an early age in our Adventure Playground, so too will all young visitors have an opportunity to explore their potential and gain great benefits from their outdoor play at Bowood ...even if they aren't destined for polar expeditions!" adds Lord Lansdowne who opened the Adventure Playground in 1976.
The Adventure Playground at Bowood is open to the public for the remainder of the 2008 season until Tuesday 4 November and will then re-open for the 2009 season in late March.
Bowood House & Gardens is open from 11am-6pm daily - with last admissions at 5pm (closing one hour earlier after the autumn clocks go back). Individual entrance tickets start at £4.50 per head for children aged 2-4 and go up to £8 per adult. Special rates for groups and senior citizens are also available, as are Family and Season Tickets. For further details, log on to www.bowood.org or call 01249 812102.
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Issued by Bowood
For further press information, please contact: September 2008
Charlotte Doherty Tel: 0207 736 6639
Charlotte Doherty PR charlotte.doherty@virgin.net
Bowood House & Gardens is set in 2,000 acres of Grade I listed parkland mapped out by the fashionable18th century garden designer, Capability Brown in the 1760s. The descendants of the lst Earl of Shelburne and the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne have lived here since 1754, with the present Marquis of Lansdowne opening Bowood House & Gardens to the public in 1975. Attractions include an Adventure Playground, a woodland garden of rhododendrons covering 60 acres and a championship 18-hole golf course for Bowood to appeal to all age groups and interests. Building work has just commenced on a new 43 bedroom hotel and health club scheduled to open in 2009. www.bowood.org
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VisitWiltshire provides tourism services on behalf of Wiltshire Council.
