Growing Through Risk: Why Risky Play Matters for Young Adolescents

Growing up has always involved taking risks. It needs to involve risk for the benefit of children’s health. Climbing higher, exploring further, making decisions independently, and testing personal limits are all part of how young people learn about themselves and the world around them. Yet in an increasingly risk-averse society, many children and adolescents have fewer opportunities to experience challenge, uncertainty and independence. 

Play Australia’s newly released Growing Through Risk: supporting Play and Wellbeing from 9-15 addresses an important gap in research and practice. While much of the conversation around risky play has focused on younger children, this world first position paper recognises that ages 9 to 15 represent a unique developmental stage marked by growing independence, increased mobility, stronger social connections and significant brain development. 

Healthy Cities Australia was a member of the reference group for the new position statement. Our children’s health team are strong advocates for this topic supported by their learning through the Active In-Betweens program that’s been running in five health priority population locations in the Illawarra for more than 10 years.  

As part of the development of the Risky Play Position Statement (9-15) HCA youth volunteers, Alysse, Braxton and Kailey spoke at the launch, supported by myself, ensuring children and young people’s voices were being clearly heard throughout the process.  

Alysse, Healthy Cities Australia youth volunteer, told the launch audience that a big developmental shift occurs between the ages of nine and 15: “When you are nine and outside, it’s ok to climb tree but at 15, the judgement  is there and you are seen to be weird.   

“Parents look at you like you’re doing something wrong and sometimes at 15 the main reason to do it, is to get a reaction from friends or adults. As you become a teenager, you want to talk more risks.”  

We need to look at the Benefit Risk Analysis of Risky Play, noting that risky play is not hazardous play. Risk referes to the possibility of encountering manageable harm that provides developmental and learning opportunities. These experience enable children and adolescents to assess situations, calibrate their abilities, develop resilience, and build competence through managed challenge. 

Risky play involving climbing, jumping, balancing, and navigating challenging terrain, promotes fundamental movement skills, physical literacy, strength, coordination, spatial awareness, vestibular system development, proprioception, and motor skill refinement.   

Research consistently demonstrates that risky play environments generate significantly higher levels of physical activity compared to conventional playgrounds. Children engaged in risky play demonstrate substantial increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, contributing to cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal development, and the establishment of lifelong physical activity patterns.  

With research clear on the health benefits of risky play, where can you go to take that risk in today’s increasingly time-poor busy cities?  Most places require payment and are structured.   

Playgrounds are dark at night and not given the same lightening considerations as sporting fields. School breaks are limited and academic consideration encroach on play breaks.   

Children are encouraged to be supervised everywhere and in turn parents are judged if not activity supervising their children, even when they are at the age of autonomy. The terms ‘helicopter parenting’ and ‘keeping up with the Jones’ are decreasing children’s opportunities to play including risky play.   

Adult anxiety transfer is also a significant mechanism in this context, with research indicating that parental fear can communicate reduced confidence in children’s competence.   

Children may internalise these anxieties, becoming more risk averse, while “hovering” supervision can signal an expectation of incapacity, limiting opportunities to develop independence. Similarly, adult discomfort with children experiencing struggle or manageable failure can impede the development of resilience and problem-solving skills.  

Risky play provides an accessible evidence-based intervention supporting holistic development of children.   

Braxton, youth volunteer with Healthy Cities Australia, told the launch audience: “Sometimes the best thing you can do is leave them (9-15 years olds) alone – don’t say don’t get hurt – give them more lenience and give us some space to take risks and we’ll learn this way much better than being told, we don’t want to be told what to do as teenagers!”   

For us in the Healthy Cities Australia children health team, key priorities include advocating for play, for spaces and policy to be child friendly by design, and for children and young people to be central to policy and program design.  

Play is preventative health, increasing physical, social and emotional health, and is a cost-effective equitable intervention for communities.   

Read the full report Growing Through Risk: Supporting Play and Wellbeing for children 9-15 here. 

This article has been adapted for Healthy Cities blog and the original article ran by Croakey Health Media can be found here: https://www.croakey.org/growing-through-risk-supporting-young-peoples-play-and-wellbeing 

Michelle Barry, Team Leader, Children’s Health Promotion from Healthy Cities Australia, took part in the Reference Group for this project. 

This project was supported by the Victoria State Government through Sport and Recreation Victoria’s outdoor sector development funding.