Children have nowhere near enough time or space simply to do what they want to do, in their own way and for their own reasons. Think back to your own childhood, and I am sure you will agree: while previous generations of children were free-range, today's are battery-reared.
Being stuck indoors watching TV or playing computer games is just as bad for children as a constant diet of junk food - and I'm not just thinking of physical activity here, but the whole spectrum of children's emotional, intellectual and social development. I believe that playworkers and out-of-school services have a big role in giving children a better offer in what is, after all, their free time.
So I'll be talking about different ways to expand children's horizons, creating opportunities that compensate them for some of the freedoms they have lost compared to their parents' generation. I'll be looking closely at risk, and how to loosen the stranglehold of the dread phrase, 'health and safety' - blamed for taking so much of the fun and adventure out of life. I will also explore how parents might be won over to a more playful, less structured approach to out-of-school provision.
The thread running through these columns is my belief that we do best by children when we see them for what they are: curious, adventurous beings who want nothing more than to learn what the big wide world is like, how it works and how they engage with the people, places and things in their lives. I'm not going to offer recipes or programmes. Rather, I hope to make you think, and perhaps do your job differently. I'd welcome your ideas and views too.