Dutch children are unusually happy and healthy. Because of this walking ritual?
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
They're expected to group themselves, to collaborate, to solve their conflicts, while the teacher acts as a facilitator that will give them the keys to succeed on their own.
After-school care is similar. The assistants are there to supervise, not to animate or entertain. They'll make sure your kid survives until 5, the rest is up to them.
This attitude carries over outside of school. Kids are trusted to go out in the neighborhood. As soon as the sun shines, the park under my flat turns into a gigantic playground from 14h to 20h, with no adults in sight.
Go for a walk during King's day, and you'll see a ton of kids managing a stall of their own design by themselves.
I read that and go like "well, yeah, duh", which probably means it hasn't changed all that much in the 30 or so years since I left groep twee.
Of course, a lot of the not being worried about kids being out by themselves has to do with the fact they can generally ride their bikes anywhere without having to be worried about cars coming anywhere close to them.
For the uninitiated, it's traditionally a nationwide flea market that day[1].
Quite fun if you like that sort of stuff.
At one of the local events last year, I suggested to organisers to grab the opportunity & ask people to pick up litter along the way. Mix in a few volunteers carrying a shopping bag to collect the trash, done. I pictured to them the whole troop could function as a big broom swiping the bushes & sidewalks along the road clean.
(it's kind of annoying to see an empty cigarette pack lying on the ground, 100s of people in no hurry with 'nothing to do' pass by, and the litter still sits there after they've passed. It's a small effort even for 1 person)
Anyone participating in one of this year's events happen to know whether that suggestion has been 'upstreamed' & followed somewhere?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...
But yeah avondvierdaagse is a neat part of our culture, regardless