Thinking about Bare Feet When It's Sixteen Below
Walking on a sandy beach is one of my most favourite things
in the world to do. I spent many hours
of my early childhood on Kew Beach in Toronto, and my summer holidays on a
sandy beach in northern Michigan, perhaps that’s why. Or perhaps it is because walking barefoot and
exposing our many little bones, (26 in each foot!), 33 joints, and more than
100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments to the delightful uneven surface and
temperatures of a shifting, soft beach is like an expensive massage. Walking on cool hard-packed sand washed smooth
by waves allows us to see our temporary footprints and the patterns we
leave. The myriad nerve endings in our
feet (more than anywhere else in our
bodies) send messages to our brains about how to proceed through the world as
we go about our day.
Can you tell I recently went to a wonderful workshop on
feet? http://www.alignmentrescue.com/ It has affirmed my belief that we
who work with young children need to take the health of children’s feet more
seriously. Here comes the negative
musing.
In many child care settings, and even in some people’s
homes, babies and young children spend all of their waking hours in shoes. Their little flat feet are still developing
and likely do that best being bare for much of the day. I always marvel that the fastest runners in
the world come from places where the children spend much of their time
barefoot. In Kingston, Jamaica,
birthplace of lightning fast, Usain Bolt, the children’s feet and gross motor
skills amaze those of us from the coddled north. Shoes are unfortunately sometimes a luxury worn for school or church. The children run, skip, kick a soccer ball, unwincing
over rough ground, with strong, tough feet.
Funny that babies often go through a stage where they take great delight
in peeling off their own socks and mastering removing their shoes, and
sometimes those of anyone else within reach.
They know it’s good for us!
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| Bare feet in Riverton City, Jamaica |
Some early learning settings never let the children have
their shoes off, not even for sleeping.
They use the excuse, “What if there’s a fire?” What if there is a
fire? One person scoops of the basket of
shoes, tarp, and blanket as part of the
evacuation drill. Worst case scenario,
the children’s feet get cold for a short time.
I worked in a child care in a centre in a high school. If students were going to pull the fire alarm
as a prank, or in protest of the principle’s new policy (which they five times
one day) it was usually on their lunch break which was our sleep time. So I know how easy it is let children sleep
(when the growth hormone is released) without shoes, and have faced the
consequences many times about evacuation in all types of weather.
I also hear people say, “It’s for health and safety reasons.” Really.
Before rest time, children go to washroom in their shoes, then run
around on their little cots before laying their little faces on those
contaminated cots. So health and safety? In other countries, such as Japan, the children, even the toddlers
change from their own shoes to special sandals to wear in the washroom. That
is for health reasons.
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| Preschool washroom slippers in Ikoma City, Japan |
In practice as an ECE in child care I instigated barefoot
days. We’d make sure our small
playground was safe from any sharp objects, leave all the trikes and wagons in
the shed, and let the children play barefoot. They were happy to do so. It’s a
healthy, human thing to do. But I have
never seen anyone else do this with the children. What are we afraid of? A splinter?
A bruise? A stubbed toe? Or the wrath of a helicopter parent . . .
I am waiting for summer to feel the cool grass, grainy sand,
sun-warmed granite, and the beloved earth under my feet.
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| Molly in a river: Photo Dave Cooney |
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| Bare foot traction. Photo: E. Harrison |
Khalil Gibran — 'And forget not that the earth delights to
feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair'
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