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Where is the adventure in society?
July 20th, 2009Young people in British society are falling foul of the quite ridiculous rules of the Health and Safety Executive! I am forever reading of ludicrous new legislation put in place to preserve us from falling over, being struck by a conker, eating the wrong food and even having fun!
Somewhere in the offices of government, officials are finding themselves in their offices with time on their hands when they can invent new legislation. This blog is not to undermine the powers of government, but I feel that it is time for some sort of statement from people of this country that might instil some common sense. Adventure is gone, the opportunities for young people to develop a healthy body and mind through undergoing challenges are few and far between, and the beautiful countryside of our country offers only a handful of young people the challenges they so need.
Society is becoming obese! According to the media over 30% of teenagers in this country are overweight, and seem to take almost no active part in sport and physical education. These young lives, the future adults of our society, are controlled by the rules of the HSE and so youth leaders dare not take young people into difficult terrain, or lead them into challenges as they used to, for fear of litigation.
A SIMPLE MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION
In pondering this decline in standards of health and the lack of outdoor challenges for our young people, I am aware of the results of a simple calculation that I did this afternoon.
There are 6m children at school in the UK. From various articles I have learnt that each one spends about £2.20 on morning break, £4.80 on lunch, and about £2 on after-school confectionery. None of these ‘treats’ are necessary, and the conventional packed lunch, for many in our schools, is long gone. Purchasing unnecessary treats seems to be the norm.
So, 6m young people spend £9 a day to live! That equates to £54m per day, £270m per week or £10bn each year! Has the world gone mad?
We are creating a society that fails to make a stand for children to receive the challenges of youth, and that does not understand how utterly vital it is for our youngsters to have adventure as part of their lives.
Health and human science seem to only be taught to very few. How can we change this in our schools and bring politicians into line with what is actually required, and not what might create a good impression in league tables?