Risk and risk aversion: The Countryside Ban

The BBC reports that children are not being allowed to play out of doors enough, due to parental fears of risks.

Of course, not allowing your kids to grow up confident and independent is far riskier.

And of course, it is the media,including the BBC, which fuels parents' fears way beyond reasonable levels.

When I was a kid in a big city, I was allowed to play out in the local parks and streets - and my kids are certainly allowed to wander the countryside pretty much at will. And the evidence is that the risk has remained pretty constant - and low -over that period, but the perceived risk has grown disproportionately.