Experts call for gradual independence before children reach adolescence

As thousands of children start secondary school, experts have called for children to be given more opportunities for independence before they hit adolescence.

New research, from the Outdoor Play Research Centre based at the University of Exeter, of almost 9,000 children and young people across England found that greater independence was not automatically associated with better wellbeing. Among adolescents, the context in which that independence was experienced mattered: for those who felt unsafe to travel within their neighborhood, greater independence was associated with lower wellbeing.

The findings come against a backdrop of a substantial generational decline in children's freedom. Previous research has shown that the proportion of primary-school children in England allowed to walk to school alone fell from 86 per cent in 1971 to 25 per cent in 2010, while children are now typically granted greater independence at around the age they move to secondary school at 11 years old.

The researchers, led by Outdoor Play Research Centre deputy director Dr Paul McCrorie, suggest that the findings raise important questions about whether children are being given enough opportunities to gradually develop the skills, confidence and familiarity with their neighborhoods that may help prepare them for greater independence in adolescence.

There is a compelling argument that children need more freedom and opportunities to do things independently.

Our findings don't contradict that. What they suggest is that simply giving children independence isn't enough.

We need to think about the conditions in which that independence happens. Asking a young person to navigate their neighborhood independently when they don't feel safe doing so may be a very different experience from giving them freedom in an environment where they feel confident, secure and supported.

The goal shouldn't therefore just be to give children more freedom. It should be to create communities where children feel able and ready to use that freedom."

Dr. Paul McCrorie, University of Exeter

The Outdoor Play Research Centre has called on policy makers to respond to their research by moving beyond simply encouraging children's independence towards creating the conditions that make it possible. This requires coordinated action across transport, urban planning and communities, alongside support for parents to progressively give children greater freedom. They have called for more zebra crossings, investment in crossing patrol staff - lollipop men and women – and help to establish walking buses.

The Department for Transport unveiled an active travel plan in June, pledging £4.5 billion for walking, wheeling and cycling routes and promising 10,000 safer crossings over the next five years.