BackPlaying for England
With England securing their place in the second round of the World Cup and football frenzy swooping across the nation, its hard to not get swept into the emotion of the beautiful game. But what’s England’s chances going to be like in the future? As it stands, the next generation of World Cup superstars will be discouraged from playing outside because of the state of our streets, according to research from national charity Living Streets.
Over the past few decades our streets have become no-go areas for millions of children, with 49% of 5-10 year olds never playing in their local street like the generations before them.
While the colourful football festival in South Africa rages on, thousands of Britain’s streets will be desolate tonight, a far cry from the bustling streets of time gone by. Nearly half (47%) of 65 year olds asked said they played outside every day of the week when they were children, and even their own children – now adults – were not far behind. To illustrate the change in attitudes of today’s parents, 32% said they were concerned about their child falling victim to ‘stranger danger’. While the safety of our children is obviously of primary importance, children are no more likely to be abducted today than they were 30 years ago.
Another barrier is parent’s reaction to high volumes of traffic. Cars moving at fast speeds keep children off our streets rather than make the streets themselves safer. Britain’s streets today are dominated by twenty eight million cars, compared with just 2 million in 1934, making them less people friendly and more congested. This is depriving today’s young people the chance to play football, socialise and contribute to the governments daily recommended exercise amount of half an hour per day.
With plans afoot to host the World Cup in 2018, this is worrying news for the country, where the streets had in years gone by been considered a safe place to play for children. Football is embedded in the culture of this country, and the misconception that our streets are unsafe for children is something Living Streets will continue to fight.
Were you out on the streets in ’66? Tell us about how more open and free the streets were back then.
Published on: 24/06/2010
