Research from the University of Exeter highlights that children’s freedom to move alone is beneficial only under the right safety conditions, amid declining outdoor activity and safety concerns in neighbourhoods.
As many children prepare to move on to secondary school, researchers at the University of Exeter are urging families and policymakers to think earlier about how independence is introduced. A new study from the university’s Outdoor Play Research Centre suggests that freedom to move around alone is not, by itself, a guarantee of better well-being for teenagers.
The research, which involved nearly 9,000 children and young people across England, found that the effect of independent mobility depended heavily on context. Among adolescents who felt unsafe travelling in their neighbourhoods, greater independence was linked with lower well-being. The findings add nuance to the long-running debate over how much freedom children should be given as they grow older, and when that freedom becomes beneficial rather than stressful.
The work comes as researchers warn of a sharp generational decline in children’s freedom to play and travel independently. Earlier University of Exeter research found that children now begin unsupervised outdoor play at an average age of 10.8, compared with 9.7 in their parents’ generation. Other Exeter studies have also suggested that more than a third of children do not play outdoors after school and one in five do not do so at weekends, raising concerns about physical, social and emotional development.
Dr Paul McCrorie, deputy director of the Outdoor Play Research Centre, said the findings do not argue against independence, but they do show that freedom has to be supported by the right conditions. The centre says that means better crossings, more crossing guards, walking buses and wider coordination across transport, planning and community policy so that children can gradually build confidence before adolescence. That message lands as the Department for Transport has set out an active travel plan promising 10,000 safer crossings over the next five years.
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