Report warns of emergence of generation of children cut off from nature

“Children go out less and less and spend less time playing in nature,” notes the High Council for Family, Childhood and Age.

Published on 12/11/2024 16:09

Reading time: 1min

A child walks in the forest, in Saint-Alban-d’Hurtières (Savoie), August 26, 2023. (ANTOINE BOUREAU / HANS LUCAS / AFP)
A child walks in the forest, in Saint-Alban-d’Hurtières (Savoie), August 26, 2023. (ANTOINE BOUREAU / HANS LUCAS / AFP)

“In just one generation, we have gone from 'it's good to go out for children' to 'indoor children'.” Minors are increasingly raised within four walls and cut off from nature, estimates the High Council for the Family, Childhood and Age (HCFEA), in a report (PDF) published Tuesday November 12. “The time spent in public spaces without the accompaniment of an adult and playing outside has decreased in favor of private and enclosed places, and supervised and sedentary activities.write the authors.

The outdoor space is perceived as risky for children and unwelcoming: fear of bad encounters, accidents, danger of motorized vehicles, “narrow and cluttered sidewalks, poorly maintained or non-existent”roads without commerce or without lighting, disappearance of building courtyards, lists the report. In total, 77% of middle school students are accompanied during their school-home journey, 60% of children and adolescents' home-school journeys are made by motorized vehicle (32% by car) compared to 38% on foot and 2% by bicycle, notes the instance.

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