Your Royal Highness,
I am writing to you as an academic and outdoor adventure educator in reference to your essay, ‘The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World’. The concerns you raise around the invasive nature of screens and the detrimental impact on building genuine connections is something I welcome.
We are writing this open global letter to take this declaration one step further. Not only to highlight the impact of screens on early years development within family life, but to consider the ramifications of their sustained, unmitigated use upon the healthy psychosocial development of children and young people.
Screens in their many forms have a significant role to play in education. However, in an unprecedented youth mental health crisis, policymakers and practitioners need to promote authentic learning in natural environments away from screens where real life connections can flourish. Nurturing an optimum blend of physical, cognitive, social and emotional literacy is most important in childhood. This is where brain growth is most prolific and a toolkit of skill sets can be fostered to help children adapt to the challenges of today and oriented to help them face the demands of tomorrow.
The unpredictable and dynamic nature of outdoor adventure reflects our world of constant change. This makes it an ideal learning environment for the development and cultivation of skills needed for children to adapt. If we want children to flourish – socially, emotionally, and academically – they need the space to play outdoors, explore and connect in ways that screens cannot replicate.
Multi-sensory learning by a range of means and experiences through outdoor adventure enables children to see the world at a personalised level (how I make sense of information and what it means to me) and with a global perspective (how I impact others through my actions). We know that youngsters who score high on psychosocial skills at an early age, as opposed to pure academic skills training, report better adult outcomes in education, employment, and mental health.
As the country’s leading provider in outdoor adventure learning, we would like to extend an open invite to you and your family to experience a screen-free adventure that empowers learners to build independence, resilience, and joy – evidence that less screen time and more green time truly helps children and young people thrive.
Outdoor play provides conditions rarely found in indoors. At PGL Beyond, we purposefully encourage children to explore, make decisions and adapt, building confidence and independence along the way. Learners connect first-hand with their surroundings, igniting their creative thinking, care for others and problem-solving capabilities. A child who develops this broader view of themselves and other people in unfolding circumstances is more likely to view setbacks in life as problems that can be solved, shared and perceived as a stepping stone to growth.
We are calling on our education system and parents to work together to help children and young people be less reliant on screens and use the outdoors to embolden them to face the challenges of today and tomorrow with confidence and resilience.
Yours sincerely,
Dr John Allan
Educational psychologist and Head of Impact Learning at PGL Beyond
