Risk Competence: Three Facts and a Paradox

12/22/2023

Risk Competence: Three Facts and a Paradox

Risky play is really important for kids—all kids—because it teaches hazard assessment, it teaches delayed gratification, it teaches resilience, it teaches confidence.
Caroline Paul, author and former firefighter

"Playgrounds, a growing number of educators, manufacturers and town planners argue, must stop striving for absolute safety and instead create challenging microcosms that teach children to navigate difficult situations even if the consequence is the odd broken bone," declares an article in The Guardian on German playgrounds.

The article continues, "Even insurance companies agree. One influential 2004 study found that children who had improved their motor skills in playgrounds at an early age were less likely to suffer accidents as they got older. With young people spending an increasing amount of time in their own home, the umbrella association of statutory accident insurers in Germany [in 2020] called for more playgrounds that teach children to develop ‘risk competence.’"

Jim Greenman addressed this issue in his book Caring Spaces, Learning Places, by calling out ‘three facts and a paradox:’

Fact 1: Children learn by physically doing. People learn how to do things safely by doing them and learning from mistakes. Spills, scrapes, cuts, and bruises are part of a childhood where human beings develop their physical capacities and learn how the world works.

Fact 2: Fact 1 is easier to swallow, reading it here, than coping with a child’s need for stitches, a broken leg, or worse.

Fact 3: Most insurance agents, regulating agencies, and many parents do not want to hear about Fact 1.

Paradox: There is nothing more important than ensuring a healthy, safe setting. There is nothing more important than ensuring a warm, personal, engaging, and challenging setting.

How do you manage this paradox? Let’s get the conversation going. Share this message and your thoughts below, or on your favorite social media platform. Tag your post #exchangeeveryday so we can follow you.

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