Product Description

"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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25891 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-29
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 94 pages

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.

Customer Reviews

An important and reasoned read.
I bought this having read an extract in the Guardian.
It is a report commissioned by the Gulbenkian Foundation and is a much-needed contribution to the debate about how we as a society are over-estimating all sorts of risks to our children and the potential that we may be harming them and their healthy development as consequence.
It is well-written, well-researched and I would recommend it to parents, to child-care professionals and (especially) to teachers. Police officers, youth workers and similar - anyone interested in children's healthy development, in fact - would find it valuable.
It is only short and is very readable. I was so impresssed I circulated it to colleagues in my workplace - who were equally struck by its common-sense meassages.
PH

Brimming with commonsense
A well written, well researched and extremely readable book.

The author includes interesting statistics to support arguments and theories. Some of the subjects covered are; playground safety, children's attitudes to risk in childhood, bullying (and what constitutes it), Internet threats, 'stranger danger' and anti-social behaviour. I found the intolerance to children just being children in public places astounding (but sadly believable). Another interesting theory discussed is whether people/children respond to safety measures by taking greater risks.


Recommended to anyone who is studying, works with, or is a parent to children...of any age.