Engaging New Westminster children on ‘friendly’ and ‘unfriendly’ spaces for play
In June, BCIRPU PhD candidate Desiree Wilson’s (Supervisor: Dr. Ian Pike) case study ‘Friendly for Play?’ was published in the Routledge Handbook of Designing Spaces for Young People. The study is a school-based participatory research project that engaged children in examining the play-friendliness of their neighbourhoods.
Wilson and Pike’s case study was part of a larger study aimed at better understanding and advancing the Child and Youth Friendly Community Strategy in the City of New Westminster. This strategy aimed to make the city a better place for young people across a number of domains, including play.
Wilson worked with a group of 51 participants, aged 11 to 13, for 10 sessions over the course of 3 months. A leadership group of 12 participants met regularly to help shape these sessions. Participants were asked to take photographs of areas in their neighbourhoods that were ‘friendly’ and ‘not friendly’ for play. They developed short narratives for these photographs and discussed them in focus groups.
“It is important for decision-makers to take children’s perspectives and ideas seriously when planning and designing cities.”
—Desiree Wilson
In the final sessions, the students identified photographs and narratives to present in a photo exhibit that was displayed at their school, the School District office and City Hall. Members of the leadership group also made presentations at the Board of Education and City Council, in which they outlined recommendations about increasing the child-friendliness of local neighbourhoods.
Feedback from the local community indicated that the photo exhibit and student presentations had several positive impacts, including helping city staff identify things that matter to children in their neighbourhoods, highlighting the importance of including children in city planning and consultation processes, pointing to outreach into schools as an area for development, and providing an example of how young people can be trusted to make contributions in the community.
“It is important not only to involve children in consultation processes, but also for decision-makers to take children’s perspectives and ideas seriously when planning and designing cities,” said Wilson.
The recommendations offered by the participants were sent by City Council to staff who reported back to Council that some specific recommendations (e.g., regarding playground hazards and safety of sidewalks near the school) would be considered in planning processes within Parks and Recreation and Engineering. Staff also identified the importance of ongoing engagement with young people in the city and subsequently met with groups from this school to follow up on recommendations and seek input on the redevelopment of a nearby recreation facility.
The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Spaces for Young People is a resource guide for researchers, design and planning professionals, community leaders, and youth advocates. It outlines how to increase young people’s access to, and use of, public spaces, as well as their role in design and decision-making processes.
Desiree’s work was featured in the New Westminster Record in 2017.
- distress when a child was in pain and when a family was grieving; and
- sadness in the event they were not able to save a child in their care.
- concern for the injured child and the child’s family;
Particularly traumatic events, such as those involving vivid sights and sounds (e.g., families holding each other and having extreme reactions), stuck with the practitioners, having long-lasting impressions on them and causing them to re-live these events in the years following their exposure.
Even after their shift was over, practitioners said that they changed how they approached parenting and how they perceived safety during play as a result of witnessing these traumatic events. They reported having more knowledge of the causes and consequences of severe injuries, such as those that require hospitalization or emergency care. For example, practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, such as by forbidding their child to play near busy streets. They also were more likely to tell their child about safe play environments and equipment, and put this equipment on their child before play, such as explaining the benefits of using helmets while riding bikes.
Practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, and use safety equipment, such as bike helmets.
Practitioners also described being concerned about their children’s play near open windows, around large bodies of water unsupervised, and in environments where firearms were present. They also expressed worry about their children’s play on trampolines and on motorized vehicles, such as ATVs. Findings related to trampoline play safety concerns were published in the journal Injury Prevention.
Observing family grief due to child injury or death affected the mental well-being of health care practitioners, drawing attention to the need for mental health supports for those involved in caring for severely injured and dying patients.
"Raise more resilient children through play...watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away." —Dr. Michelle Bauer
Building resilience through play
How can parents help their children build resilience? By letting them play!
The experiences that practitioners witnessed encouraged them to support their children in building resilience through play; specifically, by supporting children in learning to cope with failure, overcome fear, build self-confidence, develop distress tolerance, and regulate negative emotions. Findings related to building resilience through play were published in the journal Child: Care, Health, and Development.
Parents fostered resilience in their kids by:
- helping their kids get back on bikes after they fell off and wanted to try again;
- sitting on their hands so they did not instinctively reach for their children when their children fell down; and
- encouraging participation in challenging and thrilling activities in forests and water while safety equipment was used.
"There are a few ways that parents can raise more resilient children through play that are supported by literature and our study findings," said Dr. Bauer. "One: watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away."
"Two: Ask your child how they want you to help—let them tell you what makes them feel safe and happy during play. Let them lead. And three: make play both safe and exciting by encouraging risk-taking, teaching them how to avoid hazards, and using safety equipment.”
This research was supported through Drs. Bauer’s and Gilley’s receipt of a clinical and translational research seed grant from the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Dr. Bauer’s BCCHR postdoctoral fellowship award, and additional training provided to Dr. Bauer through her participation in the Programs and Institutions Looking to Launch Academic Researchers (PILLAR) program through ENRICH, a national organization training perinatal and child health researchers.
Learn more about the study through two infographic posters:
Graphics and posters by Milica Radosavljevic
