‘You can't wrap them up in cotton wool!’ Constructing risk in young people's access to outdoor play

Abstract

Policy approaches towards risk in relation to young people's leisure activities are characterized by uncertainty. While some organizations have sought to emphasize the need to reduce or even eliminate the risk of ‘unintentional injuries’ in outdoor play, others highlight the dangers in excessively restricting young people's access to the outside world. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with families in the South Wales area, this paper argues that while parents are not in the grips of ‘paranoia’ (Furedi 2001) they are wrestling with competing sets of social expectations, as well as their own rational and emotive judgements. Young people tended to respond to their parents' concerns by demonstrating their street-wisdom, claiming sanctuary behind the notion of ‘accident’ and asserting their moral right to access the outside world.