Kirstie Allsopp

Kirstie Allsopp Instagram – We bought Meadowgate as a ruin just before Oscar was born, 16 years ago, for almost as long we’ve spent every August Bank Holiday here with many friends & their kids.
This is where many of them had their first taste of independence, walking to the beach alone or going rock pooling and returning safely with their treasures, this year there are only 5 kids with us, and they aren’t really kids at all, the others are working, travelling or studying, living independently as they should be. It is our job to raise our children to leave the nest, the enormous cost of nests aside 🙄.
I knew that we were becoming a more risk averse culture in the U.K. and the US. My time is Switzerland has taught me a lot there, as in Japan, children walk to school alone and are encouraged to learn early to be self sufficient, and trusted to make sensible choices. I knew that wasn’t happening as much at home and I was interested by the walk of @jonathanhaidt and others who see a link between less freedom & trust and more mental health concerns amongst young people.
So when I said Oscar had done what so many, many young people did after O Levels, and now after GCSEs, and gone inter railing, despite being Summer born and therefore young for his school year, I knew some people might think 🤔, but I thought his trip was inspiring, and it never occurred to me in a million years that a call from children services would be involved, it’s been a huge shock, not least for Oscar.
But I hope the silver lining to this cloud is that everyone stops & thinks about the freedoms we had as children, and ask what harm could be done, not by the freedoms, but by the restrictions and fears we are imposing on our kids. | Posted on 25/Aug/2024 12:17:25