Everything Tagged with 'geography of childhood'
The Boundaries of ‘Home’ for Children
Mike Lanza, of Playborhood, takes a moment to consider the geographic range of mobility afforded to his own children and others in his neighborhood. As Mike prefaces, it’s important to realize that the concept of ‘home’ for kids can and should extend well beyond their family’s own physical house or property:
Our house is as shown, but our boys freely and regularly roam well beyond its walls. Their natural border even extends beyond our yard. They frequent all front yards of the properties two to our left and right, plus the sidewalks and part of the street in front of all these properties, plus the entire house and back yard to our left (they frequently run in and out of there), plus two back yards behind us.
“Home” for my boys is a place well beyond our house that they feel comfortable in. They feel an attachment to every corner of the area I circled. They’re always surrounded here by people they know and like and trust.
It’s an interesting perspective to think about your neighborhood in, and to ask yourself: just how wide is the range of mobility my children are allowed around their home? What defines the boundaries of that range? And what kinds of environmental diversity, terrain features, and opportunities for stimulation are actually afforded to children within that space? To cut to the chase: Just how ‘big’ and how ‘playable’ is your neighborhood for children, exactly?
Colin Ward, ‘Pioneer of Mutualism,’ Has Passed Away
The author and activist passed away on February 11, at the age of 86.
For those who don’t know of Colin Ward or his legacy, Stuart White has written a wonderful remembrance of him at the Next Left political blog; Ward was particularly well known in Britain for his work in the Anarchist movement, but readers here may be most interested in his profoundly influential book on children’s street culture, “The Child in the City”. I wouldn’t consider it hyperbole in the least to say that it’s one of the most important books of its kind to ever be published.