MUMMY CAN I GO OUT TO PLAY?
Access to the outdoors from an apartment tower usually does not become an issue for parents until their child asks for the first time, ”Can I go out to play?” ”One study of children living in high-rises found that most were not allowed out to play by themselves until they were 10.”
Research has led to the consensus
……….that families with children would prefer an apartment no higher than two storeys. From that height, a parent can watch the child from a window or hear the child’s calls. But at higher levels, the link becomes more tenuous.
In general, the children on the lowest floors in all of the apartment buildings fare much better than those living higher up. Of the families living on the first through third floors, 92 percent of the parents said they could see their children from their windows, while only half of those on higher floors had visibility. More parents on the lower floors allowed their children to play alone outside when compared with parents living on the upper floors. And more families living on the upper floors said that tensions ran high in their apartments when the children were inside. One solution for families who cannot afford a detached house or a town house, and must live in an apartment, should expect to find a building with a protected play area, but unfortunately not on Doncaster Hill.
Local MP Mr Brian Tee said that the Doncaster Hill Strategy represents the culmination of many years of strategic work on the part of the Council. “The Doncaster Hill strategy is a great example of the Victorian Government’s vision to foster a strong and vibrant community which is an ideal place for people to work, live and raise a family”.
Parent
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When 65% of parents interviewed complained there were major problems with raising children, in a recent study on high rise apartment living, the authority advised; “ways must be found to help those parents who are confused and unable to cope”. The 35% per cent who did not complain, in contrast, were described as a “more adaptable group of parents” who “had confidence in themselves”. That is, the inadequacies of this mode of living became the inadequacies of the parents.
Whittens
The disadvantages of high-density living are the social effects: the loss of privacy; the difficulty of controlling children where there is no secure open space; and the many other features of high-density living that make it unsuitable for families with young children. The comments from Brian Tee, describing the Doncaster Hill high rise strategy as an ideal place to live and raise a family, is absolute rubbish. Doncaster Police report they are responding to disputes in the Tram Road affordable housing project on a nightly basis, adding they were not surprised as it is common place in regard to high density apartment towers.
Nino
I wish our son could have a childhood like mine, with an empty block next door to roam in with hours and hours of outside time, riding our bikes with gangs of neighbourhood children with no sense of time and no parents hovering. If we got hungry we’d go home for food, or as Mum described it – “you must came home when it gets dark”. The suburban freedom of a 1970s childhood was a glorious thing in many ways. But sadly, in a high rise apartment, that sort of life will not be available. It will be car-ferrying all the way, to and from school and activities, at least while he is young.
Pete and Beth