Let kids take risks: Griffin Longley at TEDxPerth
Do children today live in environments that are too safe? What does having some level of risk mean for the development of the child? Have we become so risk-averse that children are now developing problems because of a risk-free environment? If so, what can we do, and what risks are "good risks"?
Griffin Longley is an award-winning journalist, weekly columnist with The West Australian Newspaper, manager of a program for at-risk kids called Midnight Basketball, father, and CEO of Nature Play WA. Before that he had a short and inglorious career as a basketball player and worked as a cook, bartender and stonemason. He began his journalism cadetship in 2001 at the Bunbury Herald and Southwest Times, moved to The West Australian in 2002 and then into feature and column writing in 2004. Griffin left the newsroom in 2007 after his eldest daughter fell ill and began working as a freelance columnist focussing on issues around childhood, families and the modern world.
In 2010, Griffin helped the WA Department of Sport and Recreation build Nature Play WA Inc. to promote the importance of unstructured play outside and in nature. Nature Play WA is now a successful organisation with an international reputation for innovative programs that increase awareness of the benefits of unstructured play outdoors.
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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
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I grew up inside so to speak and I can say for certain that it's had a huge impact on me as a person. I'm a scared of everything, I avoid people, I rarely go outside, I don't have a job because I'm scared to do most things. I actually resent my parents for this. They forbade us from exploring (me and my siblings) and I do suffer for it.
One reason why they spend more time inside on consoles is that the adventure is by far more engaging than a broken down old barge when you could be fighting an alien race in a galaxy far away (Halo) with you best friends (co-operative mode) or build a castle out of stone blocks hundreds of meters high (minecraft) these games are no longer just passive relation however quite the opposite, they teach teamwork and trouble shooting skills. I remember doing an essay at uni on gaming and its social impact. I found that it wasn't the child straying away from the family however the family straying away from the child. A good parent will buy a console for their kid and leave them be, but a REAL parent will be there with a controller next to them in co-op mode!
Fast forward to 13 minutes. I can't help but wonder if the woman in the red shirt is from Queensland.
Good point, but ultimately it is all about balance. It is not a question of whether modern creative gaming or physical play and real world exploration are better or worse than each other. Each person and each family will have their own preferences. It's just that kids need both for a full life. We lose physical play in the real world at a very real cost.
@jama2357
9 жыл бұрын
Parenting through active participation--agreed. Unlike the virtual world, in the organic world you have one life and injury is real and death is certain. The lack of empathy and the lack of real human contact, not just hearing a voice, but communicating face-to-face is a real social problem. Cyber-bulling is so easy because you really don't get to see the real impact of what negative words have on a person. In America, school shootings often are a result of children feeling outcast or alone, even though they have 1,000 'friends' on the net. The cyber world is not real, it is a useful tool in the 21st century, but it is not a substitute for the reality of life. When I was 10, the only thing that I had to play with was outside.
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