We have lost something as healthy for childhood as going out to play in the street. The guilt that this custom has been extinguished is fairly distributed: partly due to insecurity, but also a little because of parental overprotection; partly because we fill our children's agenda with activities and there is hardly any free time; partly because technology monopolizes game time, something that did not exist thirty years ago; and also largely that cities and towns are not intended for children.
He "I'm going to the street to play" It is a phrase that no longer exists in the vocabulary of our children, a custom that we should recover as a society and make it part of their lives. Why that children play in the street has great benefits for them.
"They have no place to play," a mother's letter to the mayor
This is precisely what a mother from Cudillero, Asturias denounces in a letter sent to the mayor of this town. After his son and a group of children were expelled from two public parks for playing ball, ask for more spaces for children to play in the street.
"Yesterday they played ball (something forbidden in all Cudillero, but it turns out that it is the national sport of this country) first they started in the alley where the bars of Casa Marí, El Faro and Hotel La Casona are. They were thrown out because spoiled the flowers in the planters "
"Then the kids tried to play soccer between Casa Mari and the Agustín Bar and it turns out that two local policemen come to directly fight children of 5, 6, and up to 12 years because there You can't play ball because it is a place of transit, that you can not go by bicycle or skateboard ... ".
Then the mother wonders "where can children play". "In the pavilion you can't, in those alleys you can't, in the church you can't ... The children of the town have nowhere to play ", says the mother, emphasizing that this problem makes more and more people "want to leave town" and criticizing that parks have been removed "to put simple banks."
Cities and towns no longer belong to children
Vignette of the psychopedagogue and cartoonist Francesco Tonucci "Frato" Cities have long been no longer spaces designed for children. The streets are a dangerous place for them, less and less children are seen walking alone to school and it is strange to see them playing alone in the parks, in the squares, on the sidewalks ...
Small cities and towns are more conducive places for children to be on the street without risks, but still little is thought of the little ones. Unfortunately cars and traffic end up hogging the planning of urban spaces.
Children have become the great forgotten and it is something that it is necessary to recover As is being done in some cities. As he comments Francesco Tonucci, Italian thinker, psychopedagogue and cartoonist, "the cities have become hostile to all those who are weak."
He also considers that, paradoxically:
"We don't let children go out alone, but the street is dangerous because there are no children. That the children return to play in the street will make the cities safer”.
Tonucci leaves us thinking when he affirms that "the house can be more dangerous for the child than the street", as he said in a wonderful interview with El País.
Why it is good for children to play in the street
Contrary to what many people think, playing in the street is healthy and necessary For the little ones. By banning or avoiding it, we are stealing part of his childhood. Playing in the street is positive for children because:
They play with other children: socialize, learn rules. No need to stay or organize anything. They just get together on the street after having a snack and doing their homework.
They play outdoors: more and more children are locked at home in front of a screen. Going outside is a way to recover the game outdoors, an open space that fills the senses and stimulates the little ones to learn and have fun.
They practice physical exercise: chase games such as hide and seek, jump rope, ball, bike, scooter ... Children neglect sedentary lifestyle and move while having fun playing with other children, also helping to prevent obesity.
Discharge energy: going outside makes them release the tensions of the day, without being subject to guidelines. They also get tired and sleep better.
It favors its autonomy: Of course, whenever you consider that your child is prepared, going out alone will gain self-confidence and self-confidence.
They play without control, they live experiences: As Tonucci says "doing nonsense at the right age helps to grow, because living the emotion of overcoming an obstacle, or the frustration of not achieving it, is essential for learning." If this is not done in childhood, "it becomes a transgression in adolescence, and there is a real risk," he says.
We can not agree more. But parents alone cannot if the authorities do not help. Let's see if they listen to those who know and help us all to retrieve and adapt the streets for children. Because the city that is good for children is good for everyone.
