Most Canberra neighbourhoods blend into the bush but the missing element is adventurous children, researchers say.
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A PhD student at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the ANU, Kathy Eyles, is studying the relationship between urban dwellers and their environment.
"I think it is a bit of an indictment more dogs use the nature reserves than children," she said on a recent tree-planting outing.
Another researcher, Sharon Bessell, says sheltering children from perceived dangers outdoors can make them anxious and turn parents' fears into self-fulfilling prophesies.
"Both children and parents are being bombarded with these messages about safety," says Dr Bessell, who worked on an Australian Research Council study over four years which included interviews with 100 children from 8 to12 years across six communities. "I think what we really need to be asking is how do we turn that around?"
Latham mother of eight Kate Beach says her 13-year-old son is catching the bus and walking home but is still accompanied by older family members when they go to Ginninderra Creek.
The children are on bike paths daily exercising the family's dog, out with scooters and balls and sometimes little fishing nets to catch and release tadpoles in the creek.
"Even though it is close to suburbia, the beauty of it is that sense of isolation, you are surrounded by bush and see lots of animals. Some of [supervising her children] is to do with not knowing who is around there, but also you don't know if an off-leash dog is going to come up," Mrs Beach says.
"We like to hang out together to make it a fun thing to do and they see this as something we all do."
The children are warned not to go too close to kangaroos and to keep an eye out for snakes in summer.
"At some point between years 10, 11 and 12, when they are catching the bus and going to work, then they are just doing their own thing. It is a kind of gradual transition," Mrs Beach said.
Dr Bessell, a senior lecturer in public policy at the ANU's Crawford School, said the children interviewed said that when not allowed to be out in their communities, riding their bikes or scooters on the streets, walking their dogs, or going to the park alone, they tended to feel less safe.
"We are concerned about children's safety, we don't let them out, children feel unsafe as a consequence because they feel that there is something that is unsafe.
"Because there are few children in public spaces, perhaps it is less safe because we see one or two children wandering on their own as opposed to communities that are vibrant for children and children are out in their communities.
"The really key question is: how do we create these environments where adults watch out for children,where children feel safe and we can overcome some of the real concerns which have emerged over the past two or three decades?
"It is about doing some deep thinking how we can turn this around and I think saying children should be allowed to go out into the bushland on their own doesn't resolve the underlying problem."
Rangers will remove bike jumps or cubby houses in the bush if they see a potential risk for safety, or harm to the environment, such as metal or planks, or moving large amounts of soil.
Territory and Municipal Services community engagement officer Helen Gombar-Millynn said rangers applied common sense when seeing such activity.
"A large variety of activities such as walking, camping, fishing and mountain bike riding are supported in our parks and reserves," Ms Gombar-Millynn said.