Canadian children are getting less and less unstructured outdoor play and that is bad for their development says Sharon Sheshlia, a health and physical education consultant for a school board in the province of Ontario.
“When I was growing up and when I was raising my own children it was ‘go outside and play. Here are your boundaries … and don’t come in until I call you or the street lights come on.’
“So, the kids developed imagination, played with kids in the neighbourhood and developed problem solving skills. They did that on their own and it wasn’t taught.”
Barriers to outdoor free play
Modern neighbourhoods don’t encourage outdoor play, says Sheshlia. Many don’t have sidewalks. Parents may be afraid their children will be abducted, a fear prompted by media reports of such cases, which in fact are relatively rare.
Canadian children spend a lot of time in front of television and computer screens and often prefer that to outdoor play.
The government of Ontario provides school boards with additional funding for outdoor education but it is spent on structured outdoor learning activities led by adults.
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