June - August 2009: Tim away on travel tour
Tim is to make a 12-week travel/study tour of Scandinavia with his family between 8 June and 30 August. The tour, which is self-funded, is to take in visits to child-friendly places, services and neighbourhoods in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Tim is not taking on any written or consultancy work or speaking engagements during this period. He can be contacted on the contact details below.
June 2009: Tim awarded honorary doctorate
Edge Hill University, Lancashire, is to award Tim an honorary doctorate for his "outstanding contribution to improving children’s lives through challenging our views of childhood in a ‘no risk’ culture." The degree is to be awarded by University Chancellor Professor Tanya Byron at the degree ceremony on 21 July.
Tim's 2007 RSA lecture broadcast on Teachers' TV
The digital and online channel Teachers' TV is broadcasting the talk on Risk and Childhood Tim gave on 21 February 2007 at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). The page link to the talk is here. First transmission was on 17 July 2008, with repeats in subsequent weeks and months. Teachers' TV is available free-to-air via cable, satellite and Freeview, and programmes can also be streamed or downloaded free of charge.
Selected forthcoming speaking engagements
Contact Tim for more information.
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| 5 Sept | London: Carefree Kids conference |
| 9 Sept | Sheffield: conference on designing outdoor play environments |
| 16 Sept | Exeter: conference on designing outdoor play environments |
| 1 Oct | London: conference on adolescent mental health |
| 7 Oct | Stirling, Scotland: conference on risk & childhood |
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| | Proludic seminars on managing risk in play provision (venues to be confirmed): |
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| 23 Oct | Orkney, Scotland: conference on children's services |
| 31 Oct | Stirling: Scottish Childminding Association conference |
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BOOKS
No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society (2007)
Published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Reprinted - initial print run sold out.
Buy from Amazon.
Publisher's web page for information, book ordering, downloads (the full publication is available as a pdf) and selected media coverage.
"Compelling. I read it in one sitting and continue to reflect on and share its contents. Of particular note is Gill’s emphasis on redirecting societal energies from regulating existing environments to developing child-friendly communities where children are free to explore and learn. The primary take-home message is the urgency for parents, teachers, and child advocates to develop a more balanced understanding of what childhood is all about."
Martha Driessnack, review in Children, Youth & Environments (Apr 08).
"A very welcome antidote to all the wild scaremongering about children’s lives. If we can harness this positive outlook not only to call for more challenging playgrounds and more childish rough-and-tumble, but also to challenge institutionalised suspicion and state-authorised scaremongering, then we really might free up our children’s lives and allow them both to enjoy themselves and to learn through living."
Helene Guldberg, review in Spiked online (14 Nov 07).
"A welcome blast of fresh air on a topic that is burdened by adult anxiety and confusion. Tim Gill takes a balanced approach to weighing up the genuine risks for children in our current society. He highlights the crucial goal - that childhood experiences have to lead into a competent adulthood."
Jennie Lindon, review in Nursery World (27 Nov 07).
"Reviews key aspects of modern risk aversion for children... Tim's timely book is a must for anyone lobbying for a more child-friendly public realm."
Alan Sutton, review in Play Today (Nov 07).
"A MUST READ for anyone working with or caring for children! Tim Gill’s controversial book provides a thought provoking and challenging read examining the impact of children’s lifestyles today on their futures."
Network of Community Activities, NSW, Australia (buy No Fear for AUD 35).
Electronic Children: How children are responding to the information revolution (1996, editor)
Published by the National Children's Bureau, available from Amazon.
PROFILES, INTERVIEWS AND MEDIA APPEARANCES
In June 2008 Tim took part in a televised debate entitled A Revolution in Childhood. The 90-minute programme was linked to the BBC's flagship child development series Child of our Time. It was broadcast on BBC 4 at 9 pm on 5 June and repeated on 11 Dec. Programme details here; TV review in the Independent here.
'Fixing Humpty Dumpty' interview on Futurelab website (March 08).
Radio interview with Richard Aedy for the Australian ABC Radio National programme 'Life Matters' (Nov 07). Listen again or download audio file.
Interview with Decca Aitkenhead in the Guardian (Nov 07).
JOURNALISM
Tim contributes regularly to the Guardian's Comment is free website, where you can read his views on such issues as risk aversion, parents, early education, childhood in the UK, traffic, bullying, and vetting and child protection.
Launch of Government's national play strategy: read Tim's reactions here (Apr 08).
'We don't need no supervision' Ode Magazine (Jan 08)
'Cotton wool revolution' Guardian comment piece (Oct 07)
Ecologist magazine cover story on outdoor play (Sept 05)
An edited version was published in the Independent.
An edited version has also been published in the book Foundations of Playwork.
Guardian piece on nature play (Aug 05)
Guardian piece on children's moral development (April 05)
Guardian piece on the extinction of the outdoor child (Sept 04)
PUBLICATIONS, PAPERS AND REPORTS
Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation Guide
Co-author with David Ball and Bernard Spiegal. Published by Play England and The UK Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). This practice guide supports a radical move in playground safety, from risk assessment to risk-benefit assessment. The guide has been endorsed by the Government's Health and Safety Executive.
Download or order the guide from www.publications.teachernet.gov.uk.
'Space-oriented Children's Policy: Creating Child-friendly Communities to Improve Children's Well-being'
Paper in Children & Society 2008, vol 22 issue 2 (subscription needed, or email Tim for a copy). A shorter version of the paper in the Smith Institute monograph - see below.
Providing for Children and Young People's Play and Informal Recreation: Supplementary Planning Guidance to the London Plan
Planning standards for the Mayor of London, prepared with EDAW (2008).
'Children's well-being in a changing world - are services an adequate response?'
Chapter in the monograph Advancing Opportunity: Children, rights and social justice published by the Smith Institute (Nov 07).
Can I Play Out? Lessons from London Play's Home Zones project
Evaluation report published by London Play (Mar 07).
'UK Policy on Children: Key themes and implications'
Editorial paper for Children's Geographies, 2006 vol 4 issue 1 (co-author with Di McNeish: subscription needed).
'Home zones in the UK: History, policy and impact on children and youth'
Paper published in 2006 in Children, Youth and Environments. Available to download in English and Japanese (thanks to Kenta Kubo).
Growing Adventure: Final report to the Forestry Commission
Published by the Forestry Commission (2006).
Cycling and children and young people
Report published online by the National Children's Bureau (2005).
"A timely call to get active, get on your bike and get young people cycling… makes a clear case for encouraging more young people to cycle." Review in Young People Now magazine.
"The appendix on cycle helmets was the most even-handed presentation I have ever seen - a marvel of fairness packed into a very small number of pages." Jim Tubman, father of four and commuter cyclist, Calgary, Canada.
'Play, child care and the road to adulthood'
Paper in Children & Society 1999 vol 13 issue 1 (subscription needed).
'Home zones'
Paper in Children & Society 1997 vol 11 issue 4 (subscription needed).
CONTACT DETAILS
Tim [at] rethinkingchildhood [dot] com
Mobile: +44 (0)7754 502680