“You don’t have to monitor everything”

Last January, the Canadian Pediatric Society issued a shocking report in which it recommended encouraging risky play in children to improve their physical health and to teach them to better manage their anxiety. But in many schools in Quebec, prohibitions are still legion.

Since the start of the school year, The Press identified the codes of conduct and regulations of more than 450 primary schools in the province. This non-exhaustive census – Quebec has nearly 1,800 public primary establishments – shows how long the list of prohibited behaviors is.

Certain prohibitions recur often. Thus, we are witnessing, in schoolyards, the death of a great winter classic: the snowball fight. Throwing snow is illegal in most establishments. Farewell also to the “king of the mountain”. Going down or up more than one step at a time on the stairs, hanging on to the beanbag bars, playing war, playing in puddles, bickering, standing on a patch of ice, Worse still, slipping on your feet, or kicking a ball somewhere other than a soccer field are also on the blacklist of many schools. Often, it is also impossible to bring sporting goods and toys from home, even for playtime.

Other rules are more unusual.

At the Carrousel school in Sainte-Brigitte-des-Saults, the following behaviors are indexed: carrying another student on one’s back, chasing insects, playing with tree acorns, swinging an empty swing, jumping while swinging, spinning around or straddling a swing; in winter, drag another student on a sled mat and slide backwards.

At Terre-Soleil school in Sainte-Thérèse, children must leave not only snow, ice, rocks and sand on the ground, but also leaves, needles, tree branches and wood chips.

At Bedford School in Montreal, the rules prohibit students from carrying someone on their back or surrounding a child with a dancing rope. The rule for using sleds is more detailed: “Two students maximum. Sitting or kneeling only. Two students can participate by pushing or pulling. No dash to jump is allowed.” Still in the metropolis, the Élan school asks people to avoid acrobatics in the courtyard.

In Outaouais, the Colline school prohibits running, chasing each other, jostling or playing tag on or around the play modules.

“We are in a society where risk-taking is zero tolerance, a society of overprotection,” says Daniel Paquette, professor at the School of Psychoeducation at the University of Montreal, ethologist and specialist in the development of child.

“Necessary” security rather than “at all costs”

However, last January, the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) published recommendations to encourage risk-taking in play. According to the report, “opportunities to engage in free outdoor play, and risky play in particular, have has declined significantly in recent years, in part because safety measures have aimed to prevent all gaming-related injuries rather than just serious and fatal injuries.

The CPS report highlights that “many Canadian organizations are now calling for a reorientation of strategies to ensure the ‘necessary safety’ of children rather than their ‘safety at all costs’.”

The doctor is not surprised that the recommendations of the SCP, very recent, are not yet included in the codes of conduct of several schools, which still encourage almost everywhere to “play carefully”. She hopes that schools will continue to reflect on this subject.

Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec, notes that the opinion of pediatricians shows “the many advantages of encouraging risky play” in children. She acknowledges that there are “overprotective parents”. She says she has also noticed in recent years a “certain reluctance” among school principals regarding the risk of injuries. “Because it brings the risk of prosecution through the back door. We err on the side of caution to avoid unfortunate accidents. But does this really take into account the needs of children? ”, she asks.

“It’s not always easy”

School service centers (CSS) contacted by The Press mainly mention security issues to explain the measures in place.

On the subject of snowballs, for example, CSS Marie-Victorin, on the South Shore of Montreal, explains this: “Throwing snowballs can cause unpleasant incidents as well as compromise the safety of students. This preventive measure is in place in the interest of safety for all. »

“There is the management of the risk of numbers,” explains the president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors, Nicolas Prévost. We can have 100, 200, 300 children in the yard. It’s not the same management as for a supervisor with 10 children. It is not always so simple to differentiate between danger and risk,” adds Mr. Prévost, who does not see any relaxation on the ground at the moment. “I even see a certain tightening, rightly or wrongly. »

Psychoeducator and author Solène Bourque knows the school network well. Children, she believes, are too restricted at school, from a motor point of view, but also more generally. That said, she believes it is complicated for schools to allow risky play.

First, she says, there is the integration of students with special needs into ordinary classes and schools, who find themselves at the same time as the others at recess and who do not always have the same awareness. risk than others.

Then there is parental pressure. “We are in a reality where we have a parent who is a client of the school. The parent would like us to have the same concern for their child that they would have at home. If something happens, for example a child is injured, the parents will be in the principal’s office the next day. Teachers will be criticized. We have parents who are really more reactive to all these things, which means that the school does not want to pursue a lawsuit. »

Then, says Solène Bourque, there is the lack of staff. “Risky games require fairly sustained supervision. There are places where you can have snowball fights. We agree that the usual ratio, which is roughly one adult for 20 or 25 children, is not possible. We’re definitely going to slip up. It takes a much lower ratio. With staff shortages, this is not always possible. We sometimes find ourselves with a schoolyard where there are 200 students at the same time at recess and three or four teachers to supervise. »

Daniel Paquette does not agree. “It’s a red herring. You don’t have to monitor everything. Children do not always need to be seen by guardians,” he argues.

He goes further. “We should cut all these rules and allow ourselves to see what that will give. It’s about being able to accept that accidents and injuries happen from time to time, and that it’s not the end of the world. Better risk management does not mean removing all possible dangers. It’s about going based on probability. If 60% of children who climb a tree fall, I would say: don’t go in trees anymore. But if it only happens in 2% of cases, I would say: be careful when you go up. »