Children robbed of playtime

September 10, 2007

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ONCE it was one of the joys of childhood - to get out of the house to play, letting off steam during games with chums.

Now over-anxious parents, video games and a `test-driven' education system are conspiring to rob children of the `vital' opportunity to play outdoors, leading experts have warned.

A group of 300 teachers, psychologists, children's authors and other experts fear the erosion of `unstructured, loosely supervised' play is dangerously affecting young people's health.

They have used a letter to a national newspaper to highlight their concerns, a year after a similar warning spelt out fears that childhood was being `poisoned' by the modern world.

That unprecedented first letter sparked a fierce debate on the issue and now experts hope to bring the subject of play to the public's attention.

Among those who have signed the new note are novelist Philip Pullman, Baroness Susan Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution, and child care expert Dr Penelope Leach. There are also 60 psychologists and psychotherapists, more than 40 university professors, and leaders of the main teaching unions and children's charities.

In the latest letter, the experts say research in the last year has bolstered the case that children are facing a mental health crisis.

They point to a Unicef finding that Britain's children are among the unhappiest in the developed world. The letter says: "We believe that a key factor in this disturbing trend is the marked decline over the last 15 years in children's play."

The experts insist that play, particularly outdoors, was vital to children's all-round health and well-being.

"Many features of modern life seem to have eroded children's play," the letter continues, including increased traffic, parental anxiety about `stranger danger' and a test-driven school curriculum. They point to `the ready availability of sedentary, sometimes addictive screen-based entertainment and the aggressive marketing of over-elaborate, commercialised toys'.

The letter calls for a `wide-ranging and informed public dialogue about the intrinsic nature and value of play in children's healthy development'.

Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of The Children's Society, said the letter was a timely reminder of the `current crisis of confidence in childhood'.

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Mr Angry, Bury (10/09/2007 at 13:14)

I am glad that I was a child in the 1960's rather than today. I know that today's children have much more in the way of material goodies that we did but somehow life is much less fun. I remember in the summers and school holidays when I was young playing out most of the day, on spare ground and in the park and having a great time. We were told not to talk to strangers and used a bit of common sense. When I got a bit older, about 9 or 10, I used to travel around on buses and trains on my own, how many of today's kids can do that? It is all part of growing up, there is plenty of time for structured tests later in life. Generally, though, I think this illustrates the theory that consumerism is a spiral of dimishing returns. When you don't have much, new acquisitions are appreciated and welcomed but the more you get, the less satisying it becomes and the running costs increase so you incure more and more stress and distractions. Then you reach the point where two full time wages are needed to keep the whole enterprise afloat and your standard of living is higher but your quality of life is worse

The Catcher, In the Rye (10/09/2007 at 14:25)

I'm glad to say I was born in the 1950s; it meant I was a child in the early 1960s. Oh the fun we had in East Manchester, dodging Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, breathing in asbestos as they burnt down prefabs, being force fed huge amounts of fat, salt and sugar, then running home to swot up for our 11 plus. Great days, great days.

come-on-city (10/09/2007 at 17:28)

The catcher...sounds like a blast!haha

LookingForLogic, Stockport (11/09/2007 at 01:22)

Right on catcher, in a way. Give us playgrounds & we will take/send our kids to play.
Take the playgrounds away as is the current trend & the kids have NOWHERE to play safely(ish).
The playgrounds of bombed out buildings & disused mines are long gone, but they haven't really been replaced with anything?! Not on a local scale, shame on the government for taking away play space without replacing facilities as they are LEGALLY obliged to do so.

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