Children Protected From Experiencing Anything Remotely Fun

Reflecting on my childhood (which wasn’t THAT long ago), I remember playing sporting games on our street with the neighbours, climbing trees, building Lego villages and riding bikes.

I was stunned when I first heard a class of grown kids that confessed to not being able to ride a bike. Sure, they are experts at driving a computerised racing car or skateboard on their game consoles. But an actual bike? Not a chance!

Why then, should I be surprised that many can’t jump or throw a ball correctly either:

Thousands of children are starting secondary school unable to run, jump, throw a ball or catch, the head of UK Sport has said.

Susan Campbell has claimed ‘physically illiterate’ children ‘hardly move’ by the time they are ready to make the transition from primary school.

And she said the legacy of the Olympics in the summer could be lost if teachers in primary schools did not receive specialist PE training.

She warned some 11-year-olds aren’t able to take part in the most basic of sports by the time they go to secondary school.

Baroness Campbell, chairwoman of UK Sport and the Youth Sport Trust, said sport should be taken as seriously as literacy and numeracy in primary schools.

And she has called for primary school teachers to receive extra training in PE.

Parents, not without good reason, are reluctant to give their children the opportunity of playing on the streets because of the many potential risks that exist. Whether these risks are as prevalent as we have been raised to believe is questionable. Whether these risks should be weighed up with the many benefits of having our children experience the joys of bike riding and outdoor sports is worth discussing.

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Tags: 'physically illiterate' children, Baroness Campbell, Child Welfare, Children, Children's activities, Crime, Excercise, Family, head of UK Sport, jump, kids, kids that can't run, literacy and numeracy in primary schools, Obesity, Parenting, primary schools receive specialist PE training., Susan Campbell, throw a ball or catch, UK Sport and the Youth Sport Trust

This entry was posted on January 17, 2013 at 11:22 pm and is filed under Child Welfare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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