Children's diminishing play space: A study of intergenerational change in children's use of their neighborhoods
Parental constraints have always been present, but in this generation they seem to exert much greater control on children's play
In this study, Dr. Christine Tandy surveyed 421 children (ages 5 to 12) and 165 parents from suburban primary schools in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia to investigate changes in children’s independent mobility over time by comparing play patterns of schoolchildren in the late 1990s with play patterns of their parents. Dr. Tandy found that children in the late 1990s spent their time predominantly playing at home and in activities that were monitored or controlled by adults as compared to children a generation ago. Despite the dominance of home-based play, children’s drawings, however, indicated a strong preference for outdoor activities. Dr. Tandy also found that while children in both generations had parental constraints placed on their activities out of concern for their safety, children a generation ago still had a high degree of mobility and freedom (33.1% of children a generation ago had only a few restrictions with regard to their play space as compared to just 3.1% of children in the late 1990s). Parents themselves recognized this difference and a number indicated that society had changed from one in which it was safe for children to freely play, to one where it is not safe and thus there was a greater need for supervision to ensure children’s safety.
Citation
Tandy, C., (1999). Children's diminishing play space: A study of intergenerational change in children's use of their neighborhoods. Australian Geographical Studies, 37(2),
