Sir, – Breda O’Brien writes at length about the problem of children spending less time playing outside than was the case years ago (“When was the last time you saw children playing outside unsupervised?”, Opinion & Analysis, August 27th).
But apart from a quick reference to the tractor drivers of her youth, she completely fails to mention what is almost certainly the single most common reason why many parents don’t allow their children to play on the street, or to walk and cycle to school – the big increase in the numbers, and size, of cars on Irish roads.
Which is somewhat ironic as the piece is accompanied by a picture of children in some earlier time playing in a car-free street.
As well as the additional risks that this poses to an individual child who may stray onto the road, the sheer numbers of people who either need or want to drive means that agencies and public representatives are under pressure to adopt a “light-touch” approach to footpath and cycle-lane parking, speeding, and red-light jumping. This in turn further compromises the safety of children and therefore the likelihood of their parents allowing them to play outside.
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So while we should be vigilant about the potential harms to children of technology like social media and mobile phones, a quick glance up and down most suburban streets shows that the piece of technology that’s most responsible for children’s confinement is something that may be older and more familiar, but is no less pervasive. – Yours, etc,
DAVE MATHIESON,
Salthill,
Galway.