Children’s “freedom to roam” has completely changed over the years. They are now more supervised than ever before and their timetables and activities are much more planned by parents worried about potential danger all around, whether it be “stranger danger” or busy traffic.

Their worlds have shrunk. They are no longer allowed to ramble as far from home as their parents took for granted, and far fewer of them play in the street, according to various studies. Instead, they are taken to playgrounds and increasingly to purpose-built indoor facilities.

Deirdre Whitfield, who is responsible for Wicklow County Council’s playgrounds, was concerned when a survey by the National Heritage Council found a huge increase in the number of children playing in indoor activity centres. The 2011 study also found a smaller percentage of children than before were playing in the “wild” and a higher percentage were going to outdoor playgrounds.

Children are “more supervised by their parents than ever”, according to Dr John Sharry, psychotherapist and parenting columnist for The Irish Times (read the Smith family case study here).

“There is far less cultural acceptance for a child to be out wandering,” he says.

For many middle-class children, he says, life has become more restricted, with play dates scheduled, events organised, activities timetabled – and children driven to them.

Wandering free

When Wicklow County Council started to look at its play policy 10 years ago, people were asked to think about their favourite places to play when they were children. No one mentioned playgrounds, says Whitfield. “Some people mentioned stealing apples from orchards. However, everyone loved wandering free.”

A recent North-South study observed that “children’s ability to travel and move about in their communities – to walk or cycle to school, the shops, friends’ houses and recreational facilities – is indicative of the value our society places on children”. This “independent mobility” had declined, it found.

There are a number of reasons for this closing-in of children’s worlds. The increase in traffic is often cited.

“There is a good justification for parents being worried about traffic,” says Sharry. “Although if you look at it, children are much less likely to be killed crossing a road than as a passenger in a parent’s car.”

Whitfield is aware that children are far less likely nowadays to know their neighbours.

“This is important for children’s play. We have to build up community capital to break down that lack of trust.”

Sharry says: “It changes children’s experience of life. Families are smaller now and parents are striving to be ‘attentive’ parents, but there is more judgment about what a child should be allowed to do.”

Local authorities are aware that communities want spaces in which children can play. Whitfield says: “We need unsupervised public spaces that are as safe as we can make them without making it ‘over safe’.”

Sharry agrees. “It is important to introduce adventure into your child’s life,” he says.

So what can parents do to expand their child’s world?

“Make their life more physical and introduce them to nature and the outdoors. Supervise them, but let them roam in safety,” says Sharry.

Whitfield fears more restricted horizons and more limited opportunities for play are making children “less independent and disconnecting them from the natural environment”.

In Co Wicklow, “we felt it was important that rather than regulating play we deregulated play and made it accessible,” she says.

Read our case study of the Smith family - Maureen (77), Sean (52) and Noah (11).

How far were you allowed to roam as a child? Share your stories in the comments section . . .