Speaking at the annual Pre-school Learning Alliance conference in Londonlast Friday, Dr Byron criticised what she called a culture of'worksheets and checklists' in education and an obsession with safetythat is preventing children from taking risks.
She said, 'We are denying children the freedom they need to be competenthuman beings. We spend millions on anodyne playgrounds, when six timesas many children are being killed after being crushed by largetelevision sets than from playground accidents. Children are stressedand anxious. They are being diagnosed with all sorts of conditions suchas ADHD, Asperger's and autism because they are not being managedproperly.'
Dr Byron, who led a Government-commissioned review on the internet lastyear, said, 'Now children are having to take their risks online ratherthan outdoors'.
She added that education policies 'driven by targets and testing', areinflicting a 'herd mentality' on children. She criticised an EYFSliteracy goal which says that children should be able to write their ownnames by the age of five, and called SAT tests 'ridiculous - they are acomplete waste of time.'
- The winners of the Alliance's Volunteer Awards were announced at theconference. David Gilbert of First Learners' Nursery in Folkestone,Kent, Laura Dunn of Lincolnshire Waldorf Parent and Child Group inHorncastle, Lincolnshire, Sarah Gutshell of Ghyllgrove PlaygroupAssociation/Barnett Bears Nursery in Basildon, Essex, and Alex and KarenToulson of Butterfly Pre-school and Caterpillar Toddler Group in Sutton,Ely, all received recognition.
