Josie Whitehead’s Poems
CHILDREN “MUST HAVE OUTSIDE PLAY” Young people face a “physical and mental illness time bomb” unless they get more chance to play outside, a conference has heard. Professor Lamine Mahdjoubi, of the University of the West of England, said a lack of outdoor exercise caused heart problems and diabetes. Councils must create more open spaces, he told a conference in Bristol. The comments come as a survey suggests British children are among the unhealthiest and unhappiest in Europe.
Although I was born in the war years when we had very little in the way of toys to play with, and books to read, we had the freedom to play outside safely, to roam the countryside, climb hills, make dens, mess about in streams, and come home dirty, wet and tired. We had a wonderful freedom that today's children don't have, and lack of toys made us inventive and developed our imaginations greatly.
LET US OUT - WE’RE CHILDREN!
By Josie Whitehead
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recorded reading
Open the door and please let us out –
To run and to play, jump and to shout.
Turn off the computers and televisions as well –
And please let us wish our bedrooms farewell.
Let’s run in the fields, climb up in the trees,
Play in the streams, fly kites in the breeze.
Climb up the hillsides, clamber on rocks –
Yes, we’ll return dirty and with holes in our socks.
But we will be happy!
Let’s be explorers and then off we will roam –
To that magical world far, far from our homes.
Let’s sleep in our tents and let’s build a fire
Just some fun in the open is all we desire.
But:
“The streets are so busy; it’s not safe any more” –
We’re told it’s not safe to go far from our doors.
“Be careful of strangers! Don’t wander away!”
Oh! The world that we long for seems so far away.
Copyright 2007