The Child's Right to Play  -  The Reasons Why

Why does the world's  most successful Treaty, the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child, include the Right to Play?   Why is so much emphasis given by educators, doctors, researchers etc to this?  

Play is as old as humanity, back over 3.7 million years ago our distant ancestors walked in Tanzania, there is a child walking beside an adult, no doubt curious and anxious to play ....

It is because for the Child, its Play may be 'messing about', Fun. seemingly aimless, something every child does without thinking whether it has to or not, but it is also just about the most important thing it does.  

Play is about Learning, about trial and error, about discovery, about relationships, indeed about exploring the world around it.   Not for nothing has Play been called 'the child's natural business'.   

Imagine a world where suddenly something stops all our adult activity in its tracks.  Who would do the 'next thing' and what would that be?   Children might just Play?   They do in every conceivable situation and circumstance as soon as they are able, they colonise, explore, learn, adapt.        

And yet, we adults have ensured that much of the child's play environment has been degraded and compromised - residential streets occupied by the car,  children's freedom to play restricted by fears, intolerance, adult agendas and pressures.   Their health is compromised as is their healthy development.   

The role of Fair  Play for Children is to keep that right and obligation before society, and to encourage people to fight for its advance.  We seek your support, membership, ACTION.      We are a Campaign for The Child's Right to Play - JOIN US!

    

   

Nor these calamities

 




  

     

Hop Skip and Jump  - major Documentary in 2 parts on how play has changed in the UK

Part One        Part Two

From The Simpsons a BRILLIANT self-parody highlighting the ink between consumerism and cheap/child labour         LINK

Defying Oppression and Discrimination - a man recounts how he at 13 as a Jew in Nazi Germany in 1937 defied ban on Jews attending cultural events, got ticket for Gala Performance in Nuremburg to attend a performance of Wagner's Meistersingers, a culturally significant event, how he felt scared and elated - the Right to Play Recreation Leisure and Culture A31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - extract from BBC Radio 3 Breakfast programme.   Later he came to Britain seeking asylum, where he has lived since, raised a family.   LINK

Youth Provision Review - Make it Article 31 compliant

Fair Play's Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child - UK Review 2016

Play Wise:  asking Children and Young People what they want

Engaging Children and Young People in active participation in their communities is a key requirement in the healthy development of both them and the environment in which they live.   One of their first encounters in that comes through their Play.   PlayWise is a Programme of Fair Play for Children aimed at fostering this participation.

One acre for every 18 .... Golfers fare better than kids

There are around 16100 playgrounds in England serving an estimated 11.2 million children aged under 16, or 1 acre of playground for every 752 children

Unfair Play for Children

Stolen Streets, Stolen Childhood