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60 mins
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29 hits |
| Topic: |
Growing up in a risk averse society |
| Speaker: |
Tim Gill - Institute of Advanced Studies |
| Outline: |
You are cordially invited to a public lecture by
Tim Gill, Rethinking Childhood, UK
"Growing up in a risk averse society"
Thursday, 27 September 2007
6pm, Octagon Theatre, UWA
In his lecture, Tim will outline the dangers in pursuing a zero-risk childhood. The zero-tolerance approach to childhood risk is growing across the developed world. It can be seen in almost every domain of children's lives, from playground accidents to child protection, anti-bullying initiatives and internet safety. Yet paradoxically, eliminating or minimising the risks to children may well leave them struggling to cope with life as they grow up.
Tim will reveal why risk elimination is becoming so prevalent, and how we can resist it. He will argue that parents, professionals and decision makers all need to become more tolerant of adversity: to accept that upsets, misfortune, uncertainty and even a little danger are all essential ingredients of a healthy, happy childhood.
Biographical note:
Tim is one of the UK's leading thinkers on childhood and an effective advocate for change. His work focuses on children's play and free time. Tim's consultancy clients include Barnardo's, the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), Forestry Commission, Groundwork UK, Mayor of London, National Children's Bureau and Peabody Trust. His book No Fear: Growing up in a risk-averse society will be published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2007. Tim has had articles published by the Guardian, the Independent, the Ecologist, parenting magazines, Nursery World and academic journals, and appears regularly on radio and television. He is on the international advisory board for Children's Geographies.
Tim is an adviser on an inquiry into childhood set up in March 2007 by David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He was Director of the Children's Play Council (now Play England) from 1997 to 2004, and led the first government-sponsored UK-wide review of children's play under the chairmanship of the Rt Hon Frank Dobson MP. This review shaped the Big Lottery Fund's £155 million Children's Play Initiative.
Tim believes that children of all ages have the potential to be more resilient, capable, creative and able to learn and understand than we give them credit for. Yet their lives are becoming ever more scheduled, controlled and directed. If children and young people are to enjoy and make the most of their lives, we need to revisit and revise our ideas of what a good childhood looks and feels like. We need to improve play and recreational spaces and services, and make neighbourhoods and communities more child-friendly. We need to ensure that children in schools, nurseries and childcare settings have some time and space to call their own. We need to support parents so they feel able to give their children back some of the freedoms that they enjoyed when they were young. Perhaps most important of all, we need to accept that it is natural and healthy for children to explore, take risks, make mistakes, seek out adventure and test boundaries.
ALL WELCOME. NO RSVP REQUIRED.
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QuickTime
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