Parks are key spaces in which to socialise and relax – while for teenagers who may have few other places where they can meet friends, they’re essential. And the mental-health benefits of being in nature are well documented. But do boys and girls enjoy equal access to these facilities?
19th October 2023
This summer, the charity Make Space for Girls, which campaigns for parks and public spaces to be created with teenage girls in mind, carried out a ‘citizen science’ project. This asked people to count teenagers using local park facilities in more than 90 different council areas, surveying nearly 2,000 teenagers. The results make for stark reading, with the organisation saying the outcomes “show the extent to which girls are designed out of parks”.
The charity adds that this is the first time proper data has been available on this use of parks and Multi-Use Games Areas (MUGAs) meaning fenced or caged pitches for activities like football or basketball, plus skate parks and BMX tracks. These make up 94% of parks’ current provision ‘for teenagers’, yet have far greater appeal for male users.
Boys dominate these facilities, representing a whopping 94% of their total users, and were overwhelmingly the users of MUGAs (92%) and skate parks (84%).
What’s more, the findings of the Parkwatch survey revealed that, where different facilities were on offer, such as tennis courts or play areas aimed at older children and shelters, girls were three times more likely to use them than MUGAs or skateparks.
But perhaps most worrying of all was the figure that, overall, just 15% of park-using teenagers were girls.
Of the park facilities for teens that weren’t MUGAs or skate parks, a huge majority (75%) were shelters, but these were often found next to the MUGA or skate park since, as one strategy document had it “girls often want somewhere to sit when boys are playing a ball game”.
This puts girls in a position where they’re effectively passive spectators of their male counterparts. Indeed, the focus on MUGAs and skate parks is frequently council policy, across all new developments, leaving girls with little reason to visit a park at all. This means they miss out on the associated physical and mental-health benefits, even though girls remain less active than boys throughout adolescence (more than a million girls who considered themselves sporty at primary school lose interest in physical activity as teenagers, according to a 2022 survey from Women in Sport).
As one young female said of her local outdoor facility: “It’s mostly boys there. If you go, they’ll just start shouting”. Another commented tellingly that parks have better facilities for dogs than girls!
Make Space for Girls has underlined that the current situation isn’t working or fair, adding: "Knowing just how big this gender gap is means that the need for change can no longer be ignored. Councils and developers must create more inclusive spaces and bring teenage girls into the design process”.
The charity calls on councils to:
The popularity of outdoor gyms has soared in recent years. These facilities give everyone the chance to work out and feel motivated in the fresh air, regardless of their age, gender or level of fitness. So it’s a highly inclusive way for people to exercise in their local community.
Fresh Air Fitness are the UK's leading outdoor fitness equipment providers, with many of our gyms installed in local parks. Our Big Rig is a classic example of fitness equipment that appeals to teenage girls. It is non-competitive, simple and straight forward to use so girls don't feel intimidated or self-conscious. The Big Rig offers a huge variety of exercise options including bodyweight exercises, to develop strength and tone (popular with girls). It’s also a piece of kit on which girls can work out together. We’ve seen the success of the Big Rig in secondary schools, girls enjoy the challenge just as much as boys. What’s more, the Big Rig is fully compliant and comes with a 25-year warranty.
Talk to us about how we could help you make teenage girls feel more included in your own community – we can also discuss the funding that would help make that possible.
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