1. Compared to the 1970s, children now spend 50% less time in unstructured outdoor activities. (1)
2. Children ages 10 to 16 now spend, on average, only 12.6 minutes per day in vigorous physical (1)activity.
2. Children spend an average of 10.4 waking hours each day relatively motionless. (1)
3. 40% of the kids in a British study said they would like to play outside more often. Their parents simply didn't allow it. (1)
4. 64% of children today play outside less than once a week. (2)
5. 28% of children have not been on a country walk in the last year. (2)
6. 21% of children have never been to a farm. (2)
7. 20% of children have never once climbed a tree. (2)
8. The distance our children stray from home on their own has shrunk by 90% since the 70s. (2)
9. 43% of adults think a child shouldn't play outdoors unsupervised until the age of 14. (2)
10. More children are now admitted to British hospitals for injuries incurred falling out of bed than falling out of trees. (2)
11. The chance of a child being killed by a stranger in Britain is, literally, one in a million, and has been since the 70s. (2)
12. In 1985/86, 21% of children aged 5-10 travelled alone to school. By 2005 this had dropped to 6% (Department of Transport, 2002, 2006). (3)
13. In England, 80% of 7-8 year olds were allowed to go to school alone in 1971. By 1990 this had dropped to 9%. (3)
13. Two thirds of (UK) mothers (59 per cent) prefer to keep their youngsters inside, with the majority (82 per cent) spending that time in front of the television. (4)
14. Cub Scouts or the Brownies. While 57 per cent of their (UK) parents were members, only 16 per cent of today's youngsters sign-up. (4)
15. 28 per cent (UK mothers) admit they probably would not let their children climb a tree. (4)
16. 43 per cent (UK mothers) would be unlikely to let them go on a cycle ride with friends. (4)
17. 37% (UK mothers) would not let their children camp in the garden. (4)
18. Fewer than ten per cent of kids play in wild places; down from 50 per cent a generation ago. (5)
19. The roaming radius for kids has declined by 90 per cent in one generation (thirty years). (5)
20. Three times as many children are taken to hospital each year after falling out of bed, as from falling out of trees. (5)
21. A 2008 study showed that half of all kids had been stopped from climbing trees, 20 per cent had been banned from playing conkers or games of tag. (5)
22. Although 97 per cent of those who took part (2000 UK parents) said they believed that it was important for children to play outside only just over a third said they took them outside. (6)
23. The study found that while nine of 10 children regularly watch DVDs only 30 per cent are allowed to take part in activities where they might risk bumps and scrapes such as climbing trees. (6)
24. Only a third of children still play with household items like pots, pans or cardboard boxes but more than 70 per cent play on video games. (6)
25. While nine of 10 parents recognised that it was vital for children to use their imaginations, 16 per cent of parents said they had no idea how to make up stories or create imaginative play. (6)
26. One in seven admitted that they were “anxious that they don’t know what they’re doing” when playing with their children. (6)
27. Ellen Hansen Sandseter, a Norwegian researcher at Queen Maud University in Norway, has found in her research that the relaxed approach to risk-taking and safety actually keeps our children safer by honing their judgment about what they're capable of. Children are drawn to the things we parents fear: high places, water, wandering far away, dangerous sharp tools. Our instinct is to keep them safe by childproofing their lives. But "the most important safety protection you can give a child," Sandseter explained when we talked, "is to let them take... risks." (7)
28. Some 36 per cent of today’s children get their entertainment from a screen, compared with just 8 per cent in the Eighties. (8)
29. 65 per cent of parents said their children played outside half as much as they did. (8)
30. Only 25 per cent of children walk to school alone compared to 86 per cent in 1971. (9)
31. The number of abductions and deaths of children at the hands of strangers has remained constant since the Fifties (six or seven a year). (10)
1. http://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2013/08/kids-stay-indoors-what-happened-go-outside-and-play
2. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/16/childre-nature-outside-play-health
3. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/3474/1/3474.pdf
4. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380550/Why-stopping-children-climbing-trees-playing-mud-creating-nation-cotton-wool-kids-cope-ups-downs-real-life.html
5. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356398566853/
6. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9201215/DVDs-instead-of-climbing-trees-how-parents-forgot-to-let-children-play.html
7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-grossloh/have-american-parents-got-it-all-backwards_b_3202328.html
8. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2585812/Cosseted-children-parents-dont-let-play-outside-Amount-time-young-spend-activities-slumps-generation.html
9. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/only-25-per-cent-of-children-walk-to-school-alone-compared-to-86-per-cent-in-1971-what-went-wrong-8452266.html
10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587547/Walk-Britain-Two-little-girls-pretend-lost-busy-shopping-centre-So-people-stop-help-One-How-ignore-plight-616.html
