<\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div> It is also worth noticing that, even then, few families came quite as large as ours. If anyone had fallen and sprained an ankle up on the Merrick, there would have been enough of us for someone to stay with the sufferer while the three others went down to find help; in some circumstances there really is safety in numbers.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, and even with these caveats, I do worry that our children are increasingly \u201ccabined, cribbed, confined\u201d, and, above all, supervised. \u2028We talk more and more about personal freedom as we \u2028offer them less and less experience of it and of ways to negotiate it. \u201cDon\u2019t talk to strangers\u201d is good advice on the London Underground, and not merely stupid but dangerous if you are lost \u2028in the wild countryside.<\/p>\n
The value of autonomy<\/h3>\n
I believe all children need the experience of being in the natural environment without adult supervision; I believe it teaches them a great deal that is hard to learn otherwise.<\/p>\n
A very good way to train even very small children in this skill is to take them into woods. Woods are magical \u2013 the realm of fairy tales and adventures \u2013 and they can provide even small people with the sensations of being alone-in-nature while, in fact, their adults can hear their every move from the other side of a tree and also hear the approach of any strangers. And there is a lot for small people to look at and learn and love in woodlands.<\/p>\n
After the restrictions of the last couple of years, it seems particularly valuable to give children freedom to be \u2028in the wild \u2028this summer.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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