Pre-teen friends sitting on climbing frame in playground.
- Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Fears over road safety and crime are preventing some parents letting their children outside to play independently.
That is the claim from advocates of outdoor play, academics and parents as a study revealed children in the UK are not generally allowed to play outside on their own until just before they turn 11.
This was compared to their parents generation who were generally let out to play just before the age of nine.
The British Children’s Play Survey, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research into Public Health, took place in April last year in which just over 1,900 parents of five-11-year-olds were surveyed.