Children's play

ePolitix.com and Play England asked Stakeholders to comment on the fall in the proportion of young people playing in their local streets.

Figures released for 'Playday 2007' show that regularly playing outdoors near home is much less common for today’s children than for previous generations.

An ICM survey commissioned by Play England found that 71 per cent of adults played outside in the street or area close to their homes every day when they were children, compared to only 21 per cent of children today.

 

Stakeholder Response: Play England

To send a comment to Play England, click here

This is part of the Play England position - for full and up-to-date coverage please visit their ePolitix.com site here.

Adrian Voce, director of Play England, said: "The space to play and the freedom that children have to enjoy it has diminished to the point that many children are being effectively raised in captivity.

 "The decline in child-friendly public space, the increase in cars on our roads and the demonisation of children and young people are all factors hindering children’s opportunities to play.

"The street or area where they live is – or should be – an essential part of a child’s home life, it is where children have played for time immemorial, but the modern world is making streets into a no-go zone for children.

"Government, local authorities and adults collectively need to do more to ensure that children don’t miss out on the essential childhood experiences that form many adults’ happiest memories."

"Our research this year, highlighting the dramatically reduced opportunities that children have to play out in their own neighbourhoods, seems to have hit a real nerve with the public.

"Play is fundamental to children’s lives but the spaces where children have traditionally been free to play have become more and more out of bounds.

"We are delighted that the secretary of state has lent his support to the campaign and is so open to debating these important issues, central to the debate about childhood itself."

 

Government Response: Children secretary Ed Balls

Secretary of state for children Ed Balls said: "I really welcome the celebration of children's play happening up and down the country today for Playday. 

"Play is vital and should be a key part of every child's life. Childhood is a time for learning and exploring.

"Through playing and taking part in positive activities, children and young people can learn to better understand the opportunities and challenges in the world around them, and how to be safe.

"I want parents to be able to strike the right balance between protecting their children and at the same time allowing them to learn and explore new situations safely.
 
"I recently launched the 'Staying safe' consultation to find out people's views on how we can allow children to enjoy the great opportunities which are now on offer for them - as demonstrated by today's events. 

"I hope that by discussing these issues we can together ensure that every child can make the most of these opportunities, have fun and develop their potential to the full."

 

Government Response: Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe

Minister for sport Gerry Sutcliffe said: "Playday has helped highlight the fundamental importance of play to childhood for the last 20 years.

"Play promotes so many skills for life. Not only does it help children develop their social skills, but it also encourages them to explore their imagination and creativity.

"Outdoor play in particular gives children the chance to be active, benefiting their health and wellbeing.

"That it is why it's important that children's play opportunities are provided in the local community.

"I wish Playday and the tens of thousands children who visit the free local events across the UK a great day."

 

Stakeholder Response: Professional Association Teachers

To send a comment to PAT, click here

Debe Lawson of PAT said: "Much is talked about a 'play based' curriculum. A plethora of research advocates the importance of play for the overall development of the child.

"More recent research (Kenneth and Ginsberg 2006) suggests that children today do not have enough opportunity for free undirected play due to the increasingly hurried and pressured lifestyle that many families lead.

"There is also the 'risk anxiety' of parents who are afraid to let their children play outdoors for fear of dangers of traffic, strangers and the risk associated with drugs resulting in children who no longer have opportunities to take risks themselves and learn from these experiences.

"Research also suggests that children missing out on these opportunities may be at a disadvantage when faced with real danger, as they may not have the skills to deal with difficult situations.

"Research indicates that there are multiple forces challenging play principally the reduction of time for children's free play, not only out of school but also in school.

"It appears that play may be reduced at the expense of academic achievement, particularly in the early years.

"Teachers, nursery nurses and early years professionals are struggling to provide a play based curriculum due to the pressures of performance tables and targets, particularly in literacy and numeracy, where researchers have observed children being called away from free play to do adult directed activities - is this only to maintain a health position in a league table and not to advance the development and learning of the child?

"Kenneth and Ginsberg believe that play is essential to the 'optimal' development of the child and is 'essential to their cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being'.

"It affords children the opportunity to explore and interact with the world around them, to discover, practice and master new ideas and activities.

"Play allows children to have fun (so important), learn to socialise make friends, learn to share, to express feelings, make choices, negotiate and problem solve.

"Children also learn and master a range of physical skills through vigorous play particularly outdoors, which is a rich learning environment and should be recognised as such.

"Play is complex and dynamic and children given the opportunity to interact and engage in self-initiated play, use their imaginations and creativity, affording the opportunity to develop social and linguistic competence.

"Play may seem like just having fun to an outsider but I suggest it is much deeper that children are probably not aware of the complexity."

Stakeholder Response: Mentoring andBefriending Foundation

To send a comment to the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation click here

Mentoring and Befriending Foundation told ePolitix.com: "The issues around the reduction in children playing outside in the local community is a crucial one to address in the planning to improve our community cohesion.
 
"If young people and children are not mixing freely because of fears around crime, drugs and dangerous roads we are in danger of bringing up a whole generation of children who have not mixed with the other people in their local communities and feel uncertain and suspicious about others in their community because parents will pass these feelings on.
 
"We will have a generation of children with limited understanding of people from different cultures in the community and see little value in the local environment.

"This will lead to increased isolation, less respect for other cultures and possibly more vandalism as the local environment is not valued.
 
"Work that we do through mentoring and befriending community programmes is directly related to building greater understanding between individuals through direct one to one voluntary engagement.

"Our work with children and young people is felt to be of paramount importance in developing understanding and reducing isolation  and improving cohesion in our communities.

"We need to develop initiatives that bring parents and children from different cultures together to develop mutual understanding, that take back our local environment and make it safe and secure, that work with young people to reduce the negative image they have and increase their knowledge about the effects of drug use, ccrime and vandalism."