The difficulty of letting kids go wild | Letters

For the majority of children who go to schools that don’t have immediate access to wild places, how is this to be achieved, asks Bruce Ross-Smith. Plus Martin Wainwright on the value of forest school classes

No one could dispute the Wildlife Trusts’ plea for all children to “have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in daily life” and “to recognise the multiple benefits of nature for children – and ensure that at least one hour per school day is spent outdoors learning and playing in wild places”. (Call for schoolchildren to ‘go wild’ for at least one hour of every day, 7 November).

For the majority of children who go to schools that don’t have immediate access to those wild places, how is this to be achieved? Over the years many schools have established forest clubs and gardening clubs, but these do not and cannot equate with “wild places”. My childhood was spent on Vancouver Island in the 1950s, when we had large gardens that were in themselves wild places. My four children have been raised in Oxford, which certainly allows access to country places and, at Shotover Park, for example, a relatively wild place, at least for some, but not easily or practicably accessible to all.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2NVOLrv