Report warns of emergence of generation of children cut off from nature

Minors are increasingly “indoor children”raised within four walls and cut off from nature, estimates the High Council for the Family, Childhood and Age (HCFEA), in a report published Tuesday.

“Children go out less and less and spend less time playing in nature”notes the report “What place for children in public spaces and nature”which calls for rethinking the city “at child height”.

“The time spent in public spaces without the accompaniment of an adult and playing outside has decreased in favor of private and enclosed places, and supervised and sedentary activities”according to the authors.

“In barely a generation, we have gone from ‘it’s good to go out for children’ to ‘indoor children’”observed Sylviane Giampino, the president of the HCFEA, attached to Matignon, during a press conference.

The outdoor space is perceived as risky for children and unwelcoming: fear of bad encounters, accidents, danger from motorized vehicles, “Narrow and crowded sidewalks, poorly maintained or non-existent”roads without commerce or lighting, disappearance of building courtyards…, lists the report.

Some 77% of middle school students are accompanied during their school-home journey, 60% of children and adolescents’ home-school journeys are made by motorized vehicle (32% by car) compared to 38% on foot and 2% by bicycle, notes the instance.

“Bedroom culture”

The needs of children are “little taken into account when planning spaces and territories”regrets the High Council.

Standards and regulations restrict or prohibit games (ball, sliding, etc.), the exploration of space and the experimentation with risks, which are essential to the child’s development.

Confinement, mobility restrictions, closure of classes, sports and cultural venues during the Covid crisis have further reinforced the “bedroom culture”where friendships through social networks and distractions (games, films and videos) now take place.

One in five children have parents who work on weekends, even though they are a favorite day for family and outdoor outings.

The consequences of this withdrawal into the home are multiple: lack of physical activity, obesity, domestic closed doors, loss of social and intergenerational ties, mental health problems, excessive consumption of screens.

The High Council recommends involving children in urban development projects. In this 252-page report, he suggests numerous measures, such as greening schoolyards.