Children's innocence is sadly missing

By George Tyndale on Sep 4, 08 02:28 PM

At the start of the new school year our children are to be officially encouraged to revive traditional playground games.

The move has been instigated by the Local Government Association which has identified a decline in the old classics because of the growth of the compensation culture and the fear that parents will sue if their youngsters cut a knee while playing hopscotch or British bulldog.

So the Association has written to town halls across the country telling them that it's time to tell the compensation culture to take a running jump.

It has even issued a list of ten games it wants to see back in action.

Well how nice. What a pity this idea is about as closely in touch with reality as Alice in Wonderland.
To begin with can you think of anything less likely to kill stone dead a kid's interest in skipping than an edict from the Town Hall? Playground games never had anything to do with officialdom or even teachers. They were the property of the young, passed on from one generation to another in a chain of innocence dating back centuries.

Not any more.

And to find out what has been happening instead you need look no further on changes in the health status of our young people since the year 2000. The kids starting primary school then are now in their early teens.

And the number of 11-15 year olds being treated for smoking related illnesses has rocketed by 63 per cent in the past eight years. Since 2000 there has been a 33 per cent rise in the number in this age group needing medical care for drug abuse, a 50 per cent rise in alcohol related treatments and a 21 per cent upsurge in cases of sexually transmitted diseases. One third of all 13 year olds are obese.

Our little girls are not out in the playground playing Oranges and Lemons because they will be too concerned that their hair may get damp. They will instead be found discussing fashion trends and make up techniques. And comparing how many strangers have contacted them on Facebook or Beebo.

And can you imagine boys playing hide and seek when a call to their mobile would give away their hiding place immediately?

The LGA seems to have been asleep for the past decade. Because it has failed to notice that what's missing from our children's lives is not just hopscotch and marbles but the innocence that made such games enjoyable.

What's vanished from our playgrounds is childhood itself.