Unleashing Joy of Childhood in Cities

THERE IS AN OLD SAYING: IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD. THIS STATEMENT REMAINED APT FOR OUR SOCIETIES FOR CENTURIES. UNTIL A DECADE AGO, MAJORITY OF PEOPLE LIVED IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. NOW MORE PEOPLE LIVE IN CITIES. WHAT ROLE CITIES ARE PLAYING IN RAISING A CHILD?

You walk into a metro train and find a six-year-old kid standing alone in a school uniform. What would be your first reaction as a Good Samaritan? “Where is his/her parents?” “The kid must have lost his way.” It’s dangerous to be alone, I must inform the authorities.” All such thoughts will cloud your mind.

But if you live in a Japanese city. You will not be worried. You will just smile at the child and go about your usual business. Cut to our cities, and you will find parents lining up in front of school gates to pick up and drop off their children.

Why do parents in Japan allow their children as young as five-year-old to go schools alone? Are they not responsible? No, they are. It has become a social norm and there is trust within community that people will help children in distress if need be. Such culture is more reminiscent for us of a village than of a metropolitan city. Children are prepared in schools to be independent from an early age. You must have heard stories that school children in Japan take turns cleaning school toilets, hence instilling the value of interdependence and shared ownership.

In Tokyo, first graders wear a special yellow patch on their uniforms to show they’re new navigators. Grown-ups keep an eye out for these kids and sometimes help them cross roads safely. Families put up signs offering help to any child in trouble. Many parents also use phones and GPS to stay connected with their children. Japan has other advantages too. The country has low crime rate, public infrastructure and transportation is of higher quality.

Urban jungle

One can relate with Japanese parents and could compare such practices in their villages or in small towns. In poor communities in developing nations, support from other adults outside of the immediate family is critical to the functioning of children’s everyday lives. Parents seek support from neighbours, extended family, local shop owners, even bus drivers to watch out and care for children.

Most of our cities are not built to provide community parenting which has been always a case in rural and tribal communities. Our social connections are weakening, especially in high-rise apartments of our metros. Everyone including children should have freedom of movement in an urban space without safety worries. Children need to be able to move freely around the streets to grow up well. Research studies suggest that it help them develop essential life skills.

‘Stranger Things’

The popular TV series Stranger Things portray the lives of a group of children roaming around a suburban town on their bicycles. They go to schools, their friends’ houses, and even in the woods unsupervised by their parents. The story is set in a suburban area of Indiana in the United States of America of 1980s. In the series, the children turned out to be heroes of their town. The series evokes the nostalgia of children grown in our own cities a couple of decades ago when societal ties were strong, children played in neighborhood until dark, and went to schools in the company of their school friends. Many expressed longing for a time when children in their cities had similar freedoms. The trend is changing in today’s metro.

According to a 1990 British study by Policy Studies Institute, in the 1970s, 80 per cent of English children aged seven to eight walked school by themselves or with peers; that number dropped to nine per cent by 1990. The trend is visible elsewhere, too. There are concerns of stranger danger, unruly traffic, fast paced life hence no community vigilance, changing societal connections and so on.

There are a few exceptions including a handful of neighborhoods in some cities or the country like Japan where 98 per cent children go to school walking or cycling with their peers.

Globally, Children’s Independent Mobility (CIM) is declining. There have been many studies done in European countries, Japan, Australia and other developed nations but there are few studies available in India. According to a thesis submitted to IIT Roorkee by Megha Tyagi for her PhD on Children’s Independent Mobility in Urban Neighbourhoods of India: A Case of Kolkata, the majority of high CIM levels (CIM licence scores and CIM destination ratios) were obtained from low-rise neighbourhoods. In contrast, the majority of low CIM levels were obtained from high-rise neighbourhoods.

Essential changes

A report ‘Children’s Independent Mobility: An International Comparison and Recommendations for Action’ published by Policy Studies Institute in 2015 recommends implementation and enforcement of stringent road safety measures that focus on removing danger from the road environment, not the removal of children from danger. Other recommendation include reduction in car dependency and the dominance of traffic in the public realm, and putting the needs of children at the heart of spatial planning and urban development – public spaces that work for children, work for everyone. According to the report, approaches to enabling children’s independent mobility fall under four main categories: urban planning and development; children’s mobility programs; education and guidance on road safety and sustainable mobility; and campaigns and events.

In India, cities can learn from European and Japanese experiences and devise their own mechanisms for ensuring joyful lives for their young residents. There are district child welfare committees in Indian cities and they should expand their area of functioning and advocate for children’s urban rights. Urban Local Bodies should also commission studies to understand the challenges of parents and children to know what are their demands and how can they make cities better for kids. This could just be the beginning, and I am sure more great ideas will emerge as we move forward.

PSI Report recommends implementation and enforcement of stringent road safety measures that focus on removing danger from the road environment, not the removal of children from danger