children
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Children. Risk Mobility Urban Space Professor Pia Christensen Institute of Education University of Warwick, UK Ideas Café 14 th October 2008. Background. Children’s lost mobility A time of heightened risk awareness Parental anxiety: ‘stranger-danger’, violence and increasing traffic - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Children
Risk
Mobility
Urban Space
Professor Pia ChristensenInstitute of EducationUniversity of Warwick, UK
Ideas Café 14th October 2008
Background
Children’s lost mobility A time of heightened risk awareness Parental anxiety: ‘stranger-danger’, violence and increasing traffic Greater complexity of children’s everyday lives Concern with children’s and young people’s risk- taking Children’s (and adults) risk engagement is an everyday activity and
management a vital competence and resource Change in children’s activities - from physical active to sedentary inactive Obesity and child health Sustainability and environmental change Contemporary cities - unfriendly places for children - citizenship Later street-debut – social and geographical incompetence
Children and Mobility
Methods:
Ethnography: Children’s own perspectives - experiences, understandings and meanings
GPS tracking and SMS-questionnaire via mobile-phone: Mapping mobility patterns – in actual time
Mobility patterns revealed
“The more cars, the safer it is … really!” Boy, 10 year’s old
The more people, the safer it is!
Why do children choose the large heavily trafficked roads?
Fear of Strangers (adults, young people, dogs) child molester assailant kidnapper
Social reasons - companionship ”Because my friends walk that way”
Pragmatic reasons Time: ‘When I’m in a hurry’
Children’s Risk Lansdscapes
Accident prevention and urban planning need to connect with children’s risk landscapes and practices
Children’s collective mobility:• Children seek companionship through movement (especially with other children) - to and from school and in and around the neighborhood. • The children enjoyed the company of others and the (feeling of) safety that the collectivity provided.
An open question for research on children’s mobility:
A means to increase the monitoring andsurveillance of children? or
A means to create visibility of children’smobility patterns and increase their influence on urban planning and the recognition of children as citizens in the city?