When Tonucci says that the city is more insecure when there are no children on the streets, it means that minors have the ability to control adults, and make them better people and model drivers. Reason is not lacking, although paradoxically the forced withdrawal of our children from the streets, has occurred precisely because of our own perception that they are unsafe for them.
I understand that the issue of trafficking in populations, and even more so in school settings, can give rise to various fears in parents: to calm down we may have to start educating (without fears) children, but also make them feel more responsible. Another thing is the fear that the child disappears, to this has contributed the dissemination of news that we all regret, and whose protagonists we sympathize. But nevertheless…
The one labeled at the time as “worst mother of America” Lenore Skenazy, commented when the great uproar was armed by the decision that about her son Izzy made when he was 9 years old (and that I tell you below), which statistically a minor He would have to spend 750 years on the street to be kidnapped in a city like New York.
Why do I tell you all this? because if we do nothing to avoid it, the children could definitely lose the streets, and with that they will also lose the ability to be more autonomous in their travels through cities, and to establish meditated relationships with their surroundings. Not everything is as black as I paint it, because Trazeo's initiative in Spain, and all those that arise around the 'school roads' are very commendable. However, children should also be able to 'go out' to play, to place themselves in the spaces where homes, vehicles, adults live, but are denied to them. It happens that if we had some freedom to move through the streets from a certain age (in my case six if I was accompanied by older children, ten if I was alone), now we who are parents have forgotten that and created reservations (as Gregorio Luri calls them in a book that I have pending review) children where they can go if we take them, and in which they may or may not perform certain activities depending on whether we allow it.
This trend has caused the so-called 'fathers / mothers helicopter' constantly hovering around the children, wanting to intrude; and showing a behavior that extends over the years. Later when the adult son (whom we still consider little more than a baby) studies outside, he must perpetuate a game in which his parents insistently give him daily advice on how to present his notes.
Trap question: are children safer inside the house or on the street?
Do you find it difficult to answer? Do you remember when we talked about whether kids can stay home alone? Because the problem is no longer if they are inside, but what they are doing (understood without minimal supervision), I mean that improper use of the Internet can bring a child closer to the intentions of a sexual predator, than the fact To walk around your neighborhood or town.
Recently, the tutor of my oldest son called our attention to parents in a meeting called because some students had participated in insults through WhatsApp. And he told us precisely this'I don't understand how you prevent children's contact with the street, and then you let them do what they want with the devices that have connectivity '.
What do adults gain when children participate in the lives of towns and cities?
It seems clear that children are exercising their citizenship if they do, to do so they must be able to function with some ease (and not always accompanied by adults). If they know what they need and we allow them to ask for it, we move forward in the construction of cities.
Tonucci account (again) that there are studies that demonstrate that the minority that drives vehicles appropriates public space, and the rest cannot enjoy it. But public space generates 'city and citizens', and to be a citizen there is no age limit.
We also won by what he said at the beginning: children help the streets not be so insecure, because their presence marks, and we have them as a reference
What do children earn?
Leonore Skenazy's case raised some controversy since he allowed his son Izzy to travel between Upper East Side and his house in Midtown (it would take about 50 minutes walking) by subway. He had previously provided the ticket, a map with the stations, money for emergencies ($ 20) and a boiler to use a telephone booth.
It happened in 2008, and when the boy arrived home excited, he returned to his mother the kiss she had given him when he left. Izzy knew by then the journey well, and knew that he had to be attentive. But in addition, his mother had been giving him confidence since he was practically a baby, and I not only knew the rules of road safety, but those that subtly parents transmit to avoid unforeseen consequences in the relationship with other people (you know: 'if you have problems, seek a trusted adult and ask for help' and things like that).
What happened when he told it in the medium of information with which he collaborates? Well, the people threw himself over and called it "America's worst mom". However I had been a good mother, because he taught his son to have autonomy, and calculate the risks, and never exposed his physical integrity. By the way, it is told as an anecdote that a year later Izzy made a trip by train to the house of some friends, also alone, and the driver called the police surprised to see a minor of that age travel without an adult, it turned out that it is allowed that they can go like this since age 8, and stayed in an incident.
Win in autonomy and self-confidence
Tonucci says that children from the age of six should be allowed to go to school alone, and also play in the street. Of course, to get there, you have to do an educational job at home, and other factors not directly related to parental function must come together.
For example: the school environment should be safe, and drivers in general could be more careful on any stretch of streets and highways, but especially where children are supposed to be. One of the most striking cases of recklessness of this type is the one that occurred recently in Birmingham, where drivers abandoned the car after having literally recessed it against a school, it is not a mistake.
In practice we could say that all the people who are unable to travel through the city due to a poor adaptation of urban planning to particular needs, symbolize the exclusion - thus, with all the letters - of coexistence and citizen participation
To combine autonomy and personal integrity, it is necessary that parents begin to review their own perceptions about the subjectFor example, if it is scary, it is difficult to transmit calm and reflection when crossing the street. And it is important for children to know that we trust them, as well as to remind them frequently of the recommendations they should apply.
Be 'more child'
Being a child is not just having to go to school, to take care of you and procure your livelihood ... being a child is also playing. Is playing dozens of toys? Is it that your parents tell you why slide to throw you? Maybe yes, or maybe not. But many times playing is nothing more than deciding who and with whom, to open the door of the house without being followed by adults.
At the same time they discharge the energy that accumulates at those ages: logical since they move freely and exercise their muscles very well.
Giving them 'freedom' is not worrying about them
I say it so that nobody thinks badly. Children who go out to play in the street have an hour to return and let their parents know where they are going., as we did as children. They return to snack when it's time and share ideas, games; They also look for solutions to small problems and are slightly exposed to some risks that make them strong (they climb trees, etc.).
Adults act as adults and ensure their safety, advise when necessary, and observe when they should do so. Loving children is also wanting them to learn to be careful, experiencing the possibilities themselves.
Do you see how it is not so bad that they know how to function in the street? Now, it is everyone's job to find the balance between public and private use of the city, to ensure that children will not be cornered. Definitely hard work, but it is worth it, and the fruits will be enjoyed by our children, and our grandchildren.
Images | Elizabeth, National Assembly for Wales, Umair Mohsin In Peques and More | Recover the space of children in the city and alternatives to the use of the car, The routes through which children travel, must be safe and have an urban character. Interview with APEU de Carrer, Children of the key? It's not about alarming but about offering solutions to parents
