I will sending the via email to support back to top Service Audit Value: 40% Due Date: 28-Dec-2018 Return Date: 21-Jan-2019 Length: 3000 words Submission method options: EASTS (online) Task back to top In this assignment, you will have the opportunity to engage in enquiry by answering questions related to the environmental sustainability of a children’s service that you have access to (most likely where you are currently employed). The task requires you to engage with the readings in the subject and information about your service to increase your own awareness of the sustainability practices of your service. You are to submit the proforma supplied in the Assessment Support section of the Study Resources tab on the Interact 2 site following the guidelines stated. Digital photos and graphs can be included to aid in the explanations. Instructions: 1. Write a brief description of the service in the audit, and why you chose the particular areas of sustainability (no more than 150 words), including details such as: – Number of classrooms and age break down for each classroom – General location (regional, city) – Number of children and educators in attendance – Private or community based – Whether or not the service serves food – Any other relevant details – Reason for choosing the areas of focus 2. Select three of the following sections in the proforma and give detailed information about what your service does to address these areas, noting any improvements that could be made. The sections are: – Water – Energy – Waste – Cleaning – Food – Administration Complete the proforma for the 3 areas you chose. You must include in-text references throughout the audit and a reference page, drawing upon module content, assigned and additional readings, to support your discussion. Please include the proforma questions in your assessment. 3. Conclusion- Write a brief summary of what the service is doing well and what needs to be improved (no more than 150 words) 4. Reference page Note: You are required to stay within 10% over or under the stated word limit. Assessments exceeding 10% above the word limit will not be marked beyond that point. Cover page, proforma questions, and reference page are not included in the word count. Include the total word count on your cover page. Rationale back to top This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s: develop a leadership culture for working towards sustainability. be able to demonstrate the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context. be able to develop healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities. be able to articulate the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting. Australians have a high stake in the state of their environment. Our lifestyles, livelihoods and future depend on its health. People have used the continent’s natural resources over tens of thousands of years and, following European occupation, have employed technologies which accelerated exploitation. Despite some areas of significant improvement, Australians still have major challenges in the sustainable use of resources and in the maintenance of our natural and cultural heritage. As individuals, we must think critically about our daily actions and implement efficiencies in our management of resources (e.g. energy, waste, water, products and materials) and in the management of the natural environment (e.g. biodiversity, landscape design, soil and noise). Evidence gained from scientific and social research strategies can assist us to make informed decisions and suggest ways to work towards maintaining a more sustainable service. Marking criteria and standards back to top This assessment will be marked on the following criteria: 1. Presentation 2. Accuracy and use of research in reporting information 3. Quality of ideas for improvement Marking Rubric High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass Fail Presentation (5 marks) Accurately and consistently adhered to APA referencing conventions in both in text referencing and the reference list. Formal academic language and precise and correct discipline and professional terminology have been used to clearly communicate meaning. There is consistent adherence to grammatical conventions. 4.5 – 5 marks Almost always accurately and consistently adhered to APA referencing conventions in both in text referencing and the reference list. Formal academic language and precise and correct discipline and professional terminology have been used to clearly communicate meaning. There is consistent adherence to grammatical conventions. 4 marks Accurately adhered to APA referencing conventions in both in text referencing and the reference list, with few errors. Formal academic language has been used to clearly communicate meaning; There is consistent adherence to grammatical conventions, although a few errors remain. 3.5 marks Attempt made to adhere to APA referencing conventions in both in text referencing and the reference list, but with errors. Formal academic language has been used to communicate meaning Grammatical conventions have been adhered to in some areas although there are several errors. 2.5-3 marks Did not adhere to APA referencing conventions in both in text referencing and the reference list. Formal and informal language has been used to communicate meaning and in many areas, meaning is unclear. The work includes multiple grammatical errors. 0-2.5 marks Accuracy and Use of Research in reporting information (20 marks) Outstanding use of a wide range of research to accurately give information about energy, waste, etc, which demonstrates a deep critical understanding of the impact on the environment. and articulates the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting. Exceptional, comprehensive demonstration of the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context. The references go well beyond assigned readings and modules. 17-20 marks Excellent use of a wide range of research to give information about energy, waste, etc., which demonstrates a critical understanding of the impact on the environment and articulates the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting. Excellent demonstration of the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context. The references go beyond assigned readings and modules. 15-16.5 marks Good use of a range of research to give information about energy, waste, etc., which demonstrates a sound understanding of the impact on the environment and articulates the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting. Good demonstration of the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context. The references include assigned readings and modules. 13-14.5 marks Satisfactory use of some research to give information about energy, waste, etc. which demonstrates an adequate understanding of the impact on the environment and articulates the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting.. A basic demonstration of the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context The references include assigned readings and/or modules. 10-12.5 marks Research not completed to give information about energy, waste, etc.. An understanding of the impact on the environment is not included and articulation of the value and process of being a sustainable early childhood setting is not included or very limited. Poor or insufficient demonstration of the relationship between environmental and economic sustainability in the ECEC context References not included or assigned readings and modules not used. 0-9.5 marks Quality of ideas for improvement (15 marks) Outstanding strategic ideas for improvements that are practical and realistic.Suggested changes are clearly linked to evidence presented in the audit. Exceptional demonstration of healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities; leadership culture for working towards sustainability is comprehensive. An outstanding level of critical thinking is evident and the potential impact of suggested changes is included. 13-15 marks Excellent strategic ideas for improvements that may be practical and changes are clearly linked to evidence presented in the audit. Excellent demonstration of healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities; leadership culture for working towards sustainability is excellent. An excellent level of critical thinking is evident and the potential impact of suggested changes is included. marks Good ideas for improvements that may be practical and suggested changes are linked to evidence presented in the audit. Good demonstration of healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities; leadership culture for working towards sustainability is good. A good level of critical thinking is evident and the potential impact of some suggested changes is included. 10-11 marks Some ideas for improvements which may or may not be practical and realistic. Some suggested changes are clearly linked to evidence presented in the audit. Some demonstration of healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities; leadership culture for working towards sustainability is basic. Some critical thinking is evident and the potential impact of suggested changes is included. marks Few or no ideas for are not clearly linked to evidence presented in audit. Critical thinking is not evident. Poor or insufficient demonstration of healthy and sustainable environments for young children and communities; leadership culture for working towards sustainability is not included or limited. Potential impact of suggested changes is not addressed. 0-7 marks Presentation back to top Neat completion of the proforma, using appropriate grammar is required. Requirements back to top Essential academic literacy 12 point font, spacing Referencing following APA 6th edition Submission in Word format is required. Pdf files will not be accepted EED403: Assessment 1 Guide For this assessment you will pick three areas of sustainability from the list given in the subject outline and conduct a sustainability audit of an Early Childhood setting. You may wish to choose the areas where you feel you could write quite a bit in relation to your EC service. Your service may already be doing lots of great things in relation to sustainability, while others may not be. This is fine. What we want to see is that you are able to critically analyse what is happening and what can be improved. Be sure to read your marking criteria carefully. The audit template to be used can be found on Interact2 under assessment support. Most EC centres would already have permission from parents to observe and document childrens learning, and use photographs for this purpose. Discuss this with the Director and if further permission is felt to be needed for this assessment, there is a permission to observe form you can use on the Interact site. The format you should follow includes: -Cover page: Name, student number, subject, date and word count (do not include words on cover page, questions in the template and reference page). -Introduction: provide a brief overview of your service and explain why you chose the particular areas to focus on. No more than 150 words. – Number of classrooms and age break down for each classroom – General location (regional, city) – Number of children and educators in attendance – Private or community based – Whether or not the service serves food – Any other relevant details – Reason for choosing the areas of focus -Audit template: Insert the relevant questions from the template. Some students prefer to do a table format with the questions in the left column and the answers in the right column. The format is up to you. I would suggest including the questions as they will help you stay focused. The questions do not count in the word count. -Conclusion: A brief summary of some of your main points and broad areas where your service could make improvements. No more than 150 words. You may use headings if you would like. Use your own judgement as to what you think will help to organise your assessment. The references you are expected to include should come from your modules and assigned readings, as well as from some sources that you find yourself. It is expected that you will need to find some references outside of assigned readings to support your answers. -References: Please be very careful to use appropriate APA referencing. Students often lose marks for poor referencing. However, if you follow the CSU referencing guide, this can be avoided. To cite your modules, use: McFarland (2018) Here are some examples of responses. These are not necessarily the highest quality responses or the only way to do it, but are only provided to serve as a starting point: Introduction: The ELC is part of a P-12 School. There are two class groups intermixing, with a total of 47 children and five staff. Children are between and 5yrs and attend five days a week. Families, mostly two-parent, come from all over the world but a majority are English speaking. Extended families are involved and a large proportion of families enlist support from nannies and home help. The centre is in an affluent area in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney with a multicultural makeup. The ELC operates within the P-12 school policies and regulations. The program is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach and emergent curriculum and works towards the New South Wales early stage 1 Board of Studies outcomes. For this assignment, I have chosen the areas of water, waste and food as these are areas that staff have discussed as needing attention in relation to sustainable practices. Service Audit (I have included only a few examples of questions and responses just to give you an idea of what is expected): How are children assisted to use less water when washing their hands while still remaining healthy? Trough style pre-plumed tap ware with a time flow push buttons are fitted in the bathrooms. Visual pictures outlining the procedures to hand washing are above sinks at child height and children are reminded verbally before they enter bathrooms the expectations of them. Does the service have dual flushing toilets? Yes If yes how are the children encouraged to use them appropriately? The different buttons are coloured appropriately for required flush this is explained on commencement at ELC and reinforced during mat times. The centre can look at installing rainwater tanks to flush toilets as appropriate space and access is available to do this. Conducting a water audit to support water conservation would highlight this importance for improvement as a lot of fresh water is still wasted with dual flushing (Kinsella, 2007, ). Do you have a washing machine? If so how economic is it? If not which kind would you purchase if you could? No I would purchase a machine rated for both energy efficiency and water efficiency; a washing machine with at least a star energy rating and 4 star water rating, a cold water wash cycle to reduce washing machine energy use by up to 80% and a front loader as they use roughly 50% less water than top loaders (Sustainability Victoria, 2014). How is the garden watered? By whom, how often, and what strategies are used to conserve water, if any? Staff and children access a rain water tank for hand watering 1 garden although the size of the tank for the centre is inefficient and constantly empty. A drip watering hose system and timer is connected to the tap and buildings main water supply which is accessed when the tank is empty. To overcome this issue the centre needs to install more rainwater tanks as the one currently in place is constantly dry due to size of tank verse yard and garden size. The lower vegetable and native garden shown in this picture has no water tanks. The centre needs to investigate installing a large tank in this area for watering the plants and vegetable gardens. Connect a drip hose and timer to this as well as the picture shows there is ample space for a large rainwater tank. A water audit in this garden would highlight the benefits of installing a water tank and the cost effectiveness of the project whilst also ensuring sustainable water use in this part of the centre (Davis, 2010, p. 139). Do you have water tanks? Yes one waterbrick1000ltrs. If yes how and what do you use them for? Watering one garden and sand/mud play outdoors. Do you measure your water usage? No If not how could you do it? A water gauge can be fitted to the water tank. Different experiments could be carried out for instance in hand washing by measuring the amount used in one wash then multiple these to have a total. Toilets can be measured using the cistern as well (Davis, 2010, p. 138). By participating in projects such as these the children have a hands on visual experience that they can partake in together to support change. Is there a dishwasher in the kitchen? No If not which one would your purchase if you needed to? I would research WELS water efficiency ratings as they support the environment the more stars on the water rating label, the less water that product will use, and the more money saved. The machine will have a Eco cycle for water efficiency and would not be turned on until full (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Scheme, .). Conclusion (I have given you just a snippet of how you can start this out. Everyones conclusions will be different). To conclude, my service is excelling in sustainable practices in the area of water conservation. However, in the areas of food and energy, there is room for significant improvement. To promote such changes, ……. General Advice: -Please begin by carefully reading the subject outline and the marking criteria. Assessments will be marked solely according to the marking rubric. If there is anything about the marking criteria that is not clear, please ask on the discussion forum. -Grammar and writing issues sometimes result in a loss of marks. It is important to proofread your assessment. -Any suggestions for improvements need to be clearly tied to your audit. We expect to see some critical thinking here. -Focus both on what the service does well and what could be improved. -In text referencing is needed throughout the audit. The assigned text book should be included, as well as other assigned readings and references that you seek out yourself. Connections to the EYLF and/or NQS should be evident. – We are particularly interested in evidence to support the potential environmental impact of current or improved practices. For example, if you installed water tanks, how much water could it save? How much energy could be saved by switching off power points when not in use? -When suggesting improvements, you should consider ways to get children, parents and other staff involved so that it is a team effort. Where to get support -Individual support can be provided by CSU learning skills advisors -Self-support guides on writing, referencing, grammar, etc. can be found here: -Questions about the assessment can be posted in the assessment 1 forum on our interact site. -Chat sessions focused on assessment 1 are scheduled for the following dates: Best wishes with this assessment, Prescribed text The textbooks required for each of your enrolled subjects can also be found via the Student Portal Textbooks page. Davis, . [ed], (2015). Young children and the environment: Early education for sustainability (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge. I’m going to email the pages chapter of this book soon. Read and reflect on the article Edwards, S. & Moore, D. (2012). It will be a wasteland if we don’t recycle: Sustainability and intentional teaching in early childhood. Every Child Magazine, 18(3). +61 2 6242 1800 eca@ ABOUT US STATE AND TERRITORY BRANCHES MEDIA EVENTS CAREERS CONTACT US Early Childhood Australia home page Search LOGIN Our Work Professional Development Parent Resources Our Publications Become a Member ECA Shop SUSTAINABILITY AND INTENTIONAL TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD (FREE ARTICLE) HOME OUR PUBLICATIONS EVERY CHILD MAGAZINE EVERY CHILD INDEX EVERY CHILD VOL. 18 NO. 3 2012 SUSTAINABILITY AND INTENTIONAL TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD (FREE ARTICLE) TEXT SIZE A A A About Every Child Every Child index Write for Every Child Advertise in Every Child Subscribe to Every Child It will be a wasteland if we dont recycleSustainability and intentional teaching in early childhood It will be a wasteland if we dont recycle, stated a four-year-old child in a recent preschool study (Edwards & Cutter-Mackenzie, 2011), as he carefully searched for the triangle on the bottom of a plastic bottle and sorted it into the recycling bin. Its got a triangle five, woohoo! he exclaimed. Young children in many early childhood settings around the world are demonstrating awareness of their impact on the environment and ways to minimise it. A five-year-old in Ireland reportedly explained to an international research group that sustainability means to save the world for later (OMEP Congress, Sweden, 2010), yet many adults still grapple with sustainability terms and practices and whether we should be teaching this sort of content to young children (Cutter-Mackenzie & Edwards, 2006). As we near the end of the United Nations Decade for Sustainability 200514, it is encouraging to note the marked increase in sustainability initiatives within the early childhood profession on a local, national and global scale. Long-time advocate for early childhood education for sustainability, Sue Elliott, appeals for early childhood practitioners to incorporate childrens learning towards sustainable living as an essential element of early childhood teaching (Elliott, 2010, p. 34). In an earlier publication, Elliott and Davis (2004) declared that early childhood educators have a powerful window of opportunity to play an active and significant role (p. 4) in assisting young children and families to understand sustainability issues, concepts and practices. The underpinning ideals of the national Early Years Learning Framework not only reinforce these earlier statements but strongly recommend that sustainability be embedded in all daily routines and practices (DEEWR, 2009, p. 29) within early childhood settings, and that early childhood educators need to discuss with children that all living things are interconnected (DEEWR, 2009, p. 29) through the considered use of intentional teaching. Questions about how best to balance the role of intentional teaching with children, as opposed to setting up environments for open-ended play and acting as a facilitator to childrens learning, are becoming increasingly evident in discussions with educators (Thomas, Warren & de Vries, 2011). Siraj-Blatchford (2009) suggests that intentional teaching can be seen as sustained shared thinking, where the educator and child can have engaged conversations to promote learning. Despite these changes to curriculum and environmental education, recent surveys in local government services identified that many early childhood educators have expressed a knowledge gap in not only what to teach young children about sustainability, but how to go about teaching it (City of Knox, Staff Survey, 2010). To investigate this multifaceted dilemma further, researchers Edwards and Cutter-Mackenzie (2011) implemented a study through an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, working with a number of early childhood educators and children using different modes of teaching and learning about sustainability concepts. In a fascinating dichotomy, although one of the teachers involved in the study had a science degree, she was still hesitant to teach science to young children, and noted that although she had always wanted to talk about recycling with the children, she felt it was too difficult to do so: I have always wanted to do it but I have always found it so challenging it did actually take me a while to find all the resources and to figure out how I can get it across to them in a simple way because it can get quite complex with all the triangles and all of that For the purpose of the study, this teacher decided to set up a recycling experience for children, sorting items for the recycling bin, the rubbish bin or the worm farm bucket. The children were offered this activity three times. First, they had a modelled play scenario, where the teacher demonstrated how to recycle, including looking for triangles under the plastic objects, using the tongs and investigating the laminated triangle chart. The following time, the children were given an open-ended play experience with the same rubbish materials, but with the teacher standing aside to allow the children to problem solve. The third time was in a purposeful play modeconnected with ideas about intentional teachingwith more interaction and discussion between the teacher and the children, and more resources on hand to explore concepts further. The children were filmed during all of these experiences, and then filmed again while watching themselves on video (each time with child and parental consent), with the researchers asking the children what they thought they were doing whilst recycling. It was intriguing to hear the children talk about how they considered they were working when they were recycling, whereas playing was running around and doing stuff. The children enjoyed the different modes of teaching and learning, for example, when [the teacher] taught them how to do it as well as just doing it on their own. At the conclusion of the study, the teacher said she was surprised with the amount of interest and intense engagement the children displayed in these recycling sessions. She said she felt as if she and the children were on a mission to complete the recycling project. This was further reinforced by the children commenting that they were not playing but working on a meaningful important job. The teacher also felt increased confidence in how to approach science and sustainability in her teaching, and planned to continue with this method of combining open-ended and modelled teacher activity to form purposeful play. Purposeful play helped her to have conversations with children that supported intentional teaching about sustainable concepts in practice. She was especially encouraged by the positive reaction of both the children and their families in this recycling trial. For example, parents said, Its part of life and its really important for children to learn that. This study of how to approach teaching and learning about sustainability through different modes of play highlights how capable young children are in understanding complex concepts (Edwards & Cutter-Mackenzie, 2011). Thinking about intentional teaching and sustainability might mean considering the importance and value children might attach to what they see as work and play. It also might involve thinking about how different types of play and teacher engagement can be blended to support childrens learning in this area. The research reported in this paper was funded by the Australian Research Council under the Discovery Project Scheme 2010-2011. Suzy Edwards and Deb Moore, Australian Catholic University Amy Cutter-Mackenzie, Southern Cross University References Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Edwards, S. (2006). Everyday environmental education experiences: The role of content in early childhood education. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 22(2). Department of Education, Environment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra, ACT: DEEWR. Edwards, S., & Cutter-Mackenzie, A. (2011). Environmentalising early childhood education curriculum through pedagogies of play. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(1). Elliott, S. (2010). Essential, not optional: education for sustainability in early childhood centres. Childcare Information Exchange, March/April. Elliott, S., & Davis, J. (2004). Mudpies and daisy chains: Connecting young children and nature. Every Child, 10(4). Family and Childrens Services Sustainability Survey, City of Knox, 2010. OMEP 26th World Congress. Children: Citizens in a challenged world. Goteborg, Sweden. August 11-13, 2010 Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009). Conceptualising progression in the pedagogy of play and shared ustained thinking in early childhood education: a Vygotskian perspective. Educational and Child Psychology, 26(2), 7789. Thomas, L., Warren, E., & de Vries, E. (2011). Play based learning and intentional teaching in early childhood contexts. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(4). Every Child magazine vol. 18 no. 3, 2012. Dont forget, Every Child is tax deductible for early childhood professionals You can purchase this issue of Every Child magazine now. Read and reflect upon the article, Communities make a big difference when deciding how independent your kids should be. Peter Gordebeke/Flickr, CC BY-NC Email Twitter87 Facebook798 LinkedIn Print We hear so much these days about fearful parents who bubble-wrap their children. So-called helicopter parents try to protect their children from lifes dangers and, in the process, prevent them taking developmentally important steps towards independence. Of particular concern, the current generation of Australian children are growing up to be less physically active and more overweight than any previous generation. Parents fears about their children being harmed have been blamed for some of this decline in childrens independent physical activity. So how much do we actually know about parental fear and its role in preventing children becoming independently physically active? There is surprisingly little quality research examining this. Preliminary findings from our VicHealth-commissioned study, Beyond the bubble-wrap: Understanding parents fears in allowing their children to play and travel independently, released this week, are starting to fill this gap in our knowledge. How scared are Australian parents? We undertook a large-scale telephone survey of parents across Victoria the first of its kind in Australia to collect detailed information about the factors that influence parental fears for childrens safety and the freedom parents give their children to play and travel without adult supervision. Altogether, 2002 parents of children aged nine to 15 years old completed the survey. Its content was informed from discussion groups involving 132 children and 12 parents. The survey showed that levels of general parental fear about their childs safety were low, but up to half the parents reported fear of harm from strangers. The study drew a distinction between general safety and fear of strangers. cartoon children on seesaw/Shutterstock Parental fear was related to lower levels of independent activities by children. In the discussion groups, parents described the effects of media coverage of cases of child abduction: You think about these [stories] that you hear about Id much prefer to err on the side of caution and know they are safe than if something horrendous happens and regret it for the rest of our lives. Parent of children aged 8 and 10 Parents of girls reported more fear for their childs safety than parents of boys, and parental fear was closely linked to child age. Children aged 9-10 years were less likely to walk or ride to school because their parents were more concerned about harm from strangers. Once children reached the pre-teen years (11-13), this concern had little impact on how children travelled to school. A complex equation Letting children become independent in their play and travel is a complex process, affected by the neighbourhood, social norms and competing demands on parents time. Children living in regional and rural areas were more independent than those living in metropolitan areas. Independence was greater when parents viewed their neighbourhood as a supportive community, where people knew and looked out for each other. Parents and children in rural towns said they felt safe because everybody knows each other. Parents look to others when making decisions about what they should and shouldnt allow their children to do. Parents who expected disapproval from other parents, schools, or other family members about what they let their children do, reported lower independent travel and play for their child. Watching what other parents allow can help parents to let their child do more. I probably wouldnt have let them do it but then I think well obviously that parent is confident with their child doing it So then I think well maybe I can instil a little bit more independence in them as well so it takes sometimes another parent. Parent of children aged 10, 11 and 14 The demands of daily family life shaped childrens independent activity. Parents work and child-care arrangements can limit whether it is possible for children to play and travel on their own. Id like to not work every day pretty much so I could walk the kids to school easily but I have to work, so a lot of our travel decisions are made because of our circumstances. Parent of a child aged 8 As children get older and more mature, they become more aware of potential dangers and how to respond to them. Developing skills are reinforced through practice. As childrens independent activity levels increase, parents safety concerns decrease. These early findings indicate that while parental fear was reported by some parents, this is just one part of the picture. If we are to increase the extent to which Australian children are safe and able to play and travel within their communities, multiple strategies are required. Building community cohesion and child-friendly environments may be necessary first steps towards giving parents the confidence to let their children learn how to navigate their environments safely. The next phase of this research aims to develop evidence-based recommendations for promoting independent play and travel for Victorian primary and secondary school children. Ultimately, findings from this research will provide information to make it easier for parents to weigh up risks and benefits and help their children move towards age-appropriate independent play and travel. This research is due to be completed in mid-2015. Final research findings are planned for release in 2015. Read and reflect on the article, “Children need to play outside but we’re not letting them” by Shelby Gull Laird and Laura McFarland-Piazza, in the Conversation. are getting less unsupervised time outdoors. Brian Yap (?)/Flickr, CC BY-NC Email Twitter94 LinkedIn Print Earlier this year, an American mother was arrested for allowing her nine year old daughter to play unsupervised in a park while she finished her shift at work. Even though this story got a lot of press, it is not a standalone event. Recently, there has been a rash of cases reported where parents have been arrested for allowing children to play in the park alone, walk to the park alone, and even just play unsupervised right outside their own home. Theres growing evidence that unsupervised outdoor play is vital for childrens development and connection to nature. Theres also evidence that children today spend much less time outdoors than their parents did. So, if were arresting parents rather than encouraging them to let their children play unsupervised, what does this mean for our kids? Our mothers all should have been arrested Although many of these cases come from the United States, the practice of police intervention in unsupervised time for children is not unheard of in Australia, with police around Sydney threatening to report parents of children seen walking alone. Most of these crimes involve another parent or adult complaining about a lack of supervision. These crimes all involve allowing children do something that was commonplace only a generation ago going outside on their own. Although these headlines causes many of us to scratch our heads, a recent poll from the US indicates that many parents do think that allowing children to play outside alone should be a crime. Where did this thinking come from? Dont most of us have memories from our own childhood of playing outside and exploring without an army of helicopter parents watching over us? If allowing children to freely play outside unsupervised was considered a crime when we were children, wouldnt most of our parents be in jail? Back in the good old days According to Richard Louv, children today do not get enough free play outdoors, resulting in nature-deficit disorder, where people lose a connection with the natural world. Why do many of us have fond memories of climbing trees and walking to the pond to fish for yabbies (without an adult in sight), whereas children today seem to be lacking in such experiences? Distances children are allowed to roam have shrunk over several generations. A report in 2007 out of the UK illustrates this point through mapping the distances travelled at age 8 over four generations. Children are indeed spending more sedentary time indoors engaged with technology. Reasons for this include a loss of open outdoor space, families busy schedules, an emphasis on structured team sports, over-reliance on electronic media for entertainment, and a culture of fear, in which people are afraid to go outside. Often this fear is due to heavy media coverage of violent events involving children. Our own research published this week, which includes a small sample of parents and early childhood educators, shows that even though unsupervised play outdoors was a fond memory for many parents, it is something they do not list as an opportunity they provide for their own children. Why not? Even though some parents understand the value of outdoor play, they can still be wary of stranger-danger and other perceived risks. Data on kidnapping risk, particularly in Australia is hard to find. We estimate from 2013 ABS data that the risk of a child under 14 being kidnapped (by anyone, including relatives and people known to the child) is about 1 out of 22890. The risks of accidents or kidnapping are no higher today that they were 30 years ago in the US and it is likely this would hold true in Australia as well if data were available. Although media often hype up the idea of stranger danger, children are actually more likely to have a heart attack than they are to be kidnapped by a stranger. Free the children There are many benefits to unsupervised outdoor play and experiences in nature, including a reduction in obesity and the symptoms of anxiety, depression and ADHD. Research has shown that children learn self-control over their own actions and decisions in this time alone without their parents. Without time unsupervised, children may not develop a sense of self-control or an ability to judge and manage risk on their own. By keeping our children locked up inside, were basically conducting a large uncontrolled experiment on our own kids where the consequences are unclear. More research is needed on the benefits of unsupervised outdoor play. Certainly the answer is not to arrest mothers for letting their children play outside. Arresting parents is sure to be traumatic for children and families and has more negative consequences than letting a child play alone in a park. Shouldnt children have a right to participate in free play outdoors? One move in the right direction could be to develop a greater sense of community in our neighbourhoods. By knowing our neighbours and interacting positively with those around us (before calling the police), we can create a better and safer environment in which our children can thrive. Children Nature Play Tweet Share Get newsletter The Conversation is a non-profit + your donation is tax deductible. Help knowledge-based, ethical journalis Additional reading The National Wildlife Federation booklet: The Dirt on Dirt (2012) Download the ECA Code of Ethics: A guide for everyday practice from: How is environmental sustainability discussed in this document Browse the Government Health Ethics Website One ethical issue in relation to sustainability in early childhood education is the use of disposable nappies. Read the following article
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