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Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

31 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Play Strategy Action Plan

Macintosh, Ken Lab Eastwood Watch on SPTV

I entirely agree with that point, and I might get the chance later to talk about the risk-averse culture. Yes, there are stories of people banning conkers and so on, which is clearly risk aversion gone mad.

I want to digress slightly to make a point that Liz Smith might agree with. Physical education and play are clearly not the same. Most of us enjoy playing, but not all of us enjoy PE. However, organised sport and unsupervised play activities suffer from not having a high enough profile in our school curriculum. They are not ranked highly in the academic hierarchy. Even when it comes to extracurricular activity, we do not give play, sport or music, for that matter, enough time and support, and it can be done. I am not a fan of private education but it annoys and frustrates me that many state schools do not offer the focus on sport, games and physical activity that is so often a feature of the independent sector. Even though the picture was not quite as bad in Scotland as it was across the rest of the UK, stories about the high proportion of Olympic medallists last summer who were privately educated rather than state educated still rankle with me. Sport is not the same as play, but the point that I am trying to emphasise is that both would benefit greatly from a higher profile and higher status within our schools and education system. To echo what the minister said earlier, we do not take play seriously—if that is not too much of an oxymoron.

The action plan is very welcome. One aspect that jumped out at me was that the organisations on the list of consultees or of those responsible for implementation are already champions of play. In some ways, the most important actions in the plan are those outwith the play sector, which involve planners, architects and organisations such as local authorities. The strategy and action plan are very important, but I hope that we can move towards even firmer duties and statements of intent, such as a duty on local authorities to take account of play when granting planning consent or building roads. Some of our local authorities already have excellent play strategies that are making a difference, but even in that area duties are interpreted differently.

I agree entirely with the point that Jayne Baxter made earlier. I would like to see more open and interesting places for play. Every time a new estate gets built there is a wee play park with a swing and a seesaw, but is that what children really want? A few years ago, my wife and I bought a wooden Wendy house for the kids to play in, but when their friends come round the kids just want to play in the tree house, which is just four planks of wood with nails sticking out of it—it would never pass any risk assessment. However, the tree house has been a palace, a castle, a bedroom and a play room—it has been filled with the children’s imagination.

Seven and a half years ago, we had a members’ business debate calling for a play strategy. At the time, many of us bemoaned the risk-averse culture—the “cotton-wool kids”. I remember what Christine Grahame said at the time. She is not here just now, so I apologise if this paraphrasing is not quite accurate, but she said that if you hadn’t broken your arm as a kid, you hadn’t lived. Play is about learning one’s limitations and managing risk. I do not want my children to be scared of crossing the road; I want them to be sensibly aware of the risks and dangers.

I hope that attitudes are changing. I could pick a few holes in the strategy around the UN convention, but I will not, because I think it is a great move in the right direction. I do not get to agree with the Scottish Government that often, but on wellbeing and play, I think that we can work together.

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Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

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