Let your children injure themselves, says ROSPA

Research published last week by the Children's Society suggested that too many parents are refusing to let their children play by themselves outside in case they are injured.

It found 43 per cent of adults think children should not be allowed out with their friends until they are 14 or over.

But Peter Cornall, from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, argues that when children scrape their knees or bump their heads, they learn how to avoid hurting themselves again in future.

He said: "We need to ask ourselves whether it is better for a child to break a wrist falling out of a tree, or to get a repetitive strain wrist injury at a young age from using a computer or video games console.

"When children spend time in the great outdoors, getting muddy, getting wet, getting stung by nettles, they learn important lessons - what hurts, what is slippery, what you can trip over or fall from. We need to try to break down the perceived safety barriers to playing outside.

"A step towards achieving this can be the creation of wild areas for natural play within parks.

"For example, there could be places to paddle on the banks of streams, climb trees and build dens.

"If these areas can be created within a supervised park environment in urban areas, parental fears should start to be allayed."

The society, which is holding its International Play Safety Conference in Leicestershire on Thursday, wants to encourage parents to talk to their children about the risks and how to cope with them.

Mr Cornall added: "When children are able to interact with the world around them, they learn to push their boundaries and develop their own assessment skills - rarely, for example, will children climb above where they feel comfortable."