No Fear joins the increasingly vigorous debate about the role and nature of childhood in the UK. Over the past 30 years activities that previous generations of children enjoyed without a second thought have been relabelled as troubling or dangerous, and the adults who permit them branded as irresponsible.

No Fear argues that childhood is being undermined by the growth of risk aversion and its intrusion into every aspect of children’s lives. This restricts children’s play, limits their freedom of movement, corrodes their relationships with adults and constrains their exploration of physical, social and virtual worlds.

Focusing on the crucial years of childhood between the ages of 5 and 11 – from the start of statutory schooling to the onset of adolescence – No Fear examines some of the key issues with regard to children’s safety: playground design and legislation, antisocial behaviour, bullying, child protection, the fear of strangers and online risks. It offers insights into the roles of parents, teachers, carers, the media, safety agencies and the Government and exposes the contradictions inherent in current attitudes and policies, revealing how risk averse behaviour ironically can damage and endanger children’s lives.

In conclusion, No Fear advocates a philosophy of resilience that will help counter risk aversion and strike a better balance between protecting children from genuine threats and giving them rich, challenging opportunities through which to learn and grow.

INTRODUCTION
In February 2007 a primary school in Lincolnshire banned pupils from playing kiss chase and tag, because of staff concerns that playtimes were becoming too rough. The prohibition has also been seen in the US, Australia and Ireland, where in one county, half of all primary schools have banned running in the playground altogether.

In April 2006, parents taking part in an online discussion on the Times Educational Supplement website revealed that they were seeking reassurances that the staff in hobby shops their children visited had been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Later that year, a junior league football referee in Ashford, Kent, banned parents from taking photographs of their children, claiming that his actions were required by child protection procedures.

In April 2007, two teenage girls from Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, were given fixed penalty notices by police officers for drawing chalk pictures on the pavement. A parent claimed that the drawings were washed away by the rain, but a police spokeswoman stated that ‘chalk graffiti has been a persistent problem in upper Bangor for quite some time.’

This book argues that childhood is becoming undermined by risk aversion. Activities and experiences that previous generations of children enjoyed without a second thought have been relabelled as troubling or dangerous, while the adults who still permit them are branded as irresponsible. ...

Visit No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society Download Page

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By Tim Gill
Published by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
United Kingdom Branch
98 Portland Place
London W1B 1ET
Tel: 020 7908 7604
E-mail: info@gulbenkian.org.uk
Website: www.gulbenkian.org.uk

CONTENTS
6 Preface by Andrew Barnett
9 Acknowledgements
10 Chapter 1 Introduction
Context: the shrinking horizons of childhood
The role of risk in childhood
Risk in childhood: children’s behaviour and attitudes
Causes of risk aversion
Legal and public policy context
The book’s focus
24 Chapter 2 Playgrounds
A brief history of playground safety
Recent developments in playground safety
Conclusions
39 Chapter 3 The spread of risk averse attitudes to childhood
Antisocial behaviour
Bullying
Child protection, vetting and contact between children and adults
Fear of strangers
Online risks
Conclusions
61 Chapter 4 Who is to blame?
Parents
In loco parentis
Schools
Settings beyond the school
The media
Conclusions
76 Chapter 5 Beyond risk aversion
Child-friendly communities
Children’s services: from protection to resilience
86 Notes
92 Select bibliography and further reading
94 Photographic acknowledgements

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Gill is one of the UK’s leading writers and thinkers on childhood. His work focuses on children’s play and free time. He appears regularly on national TV and radio and has written for The Guardian and The Independent, as well as parenting and trade magazines and academic journals.

He was Director of the Children’s Play Council from 1997–2004 and, in 2002, was seconded to Whitehall to lead the first ever Government-sponsored review of children’s play.

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