This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Parents may have heard of the dangers of being a "helicopter parent." They hover so closely over their kids that they never get a chance to develop independence and resilience. But avoiding this is easier said than done, especially when most parents would agree their first job is to keep their kids safe.
As children grow older, into late elementary and early high school years, managing risks becomes even more difficult as children want to push boundaries and develop their independence. Our new report looks specifically at play and the 9–15 age group to explain what healthy risks are and how to encourage your child to take them. Young people need opportunities to experience healthy risks as they grow and develop.
Children and young adolescents naturally seek out risk-taking as a way of developing and defining themselves. Adolescence marks a sharp neurobiological shift, during which sensitivity to rewards peaks, sensation-seeking intensifies, but impulse control remains immature. Research tells us that adventure and positive risk-taking help cultivate executive function (which includes planning and working memory), emotional regulation, confidence, resilience and social competence.
This is achieved by focusing on challenging activities that both test and stretch a young person's comfort zones, developing tenacity, inner strength and different pathways in the brain. If adolescents don't get healthy opportunities to experience uncertainty and challenge, research suggests they can seek other outlets for risk-taking. This can result in harmful, reckless or antisocial behavior.
Risky play is not unsafe play—despite what some people might think. Researchers understand "risky play" to be adventurous, challenging and uncertainty-based activities that offer developmental benefits. It could include unstructured play, such as exploring in nature away from adult eyes.
Or it could involve more structured activities, including climbing to the top of the equipment at the park or riding a skateboard down a steep hill. It can also take place indoors, through rough-and-tumble play such as wrestling with siblings or indoor rock climbing at the local gym. These activities offer children valuable opportunities to test their abilities and discover what they can do.
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