Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013
31 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Play Strategy Action Plan
It is extremely important that the minister talked about the fact that article 31 of the UNCRC mentions that every child has the right to play. That is the right way to start any contribution to the debate.
The minister talked about the fact that play is also about learning, in that it can lead to young people being able to learn about independent choice, collaboration and co-operation, and risk-benefit assessment—that is a horrible term, to which I will return. Play also teaches young people about the consequences of actions. Those are surely all skills for life but, above all, as the minister said, play is fun.
Many members have reminisced; I want to do a bit of reminiscing, too. I also want to point out the intergenerational fun that we have when we play with children. James Dornan reminisced about his childhood, which sounded very like mine—it involved getting up in the morning, going out and not coming back until someone came and got you when it got dark. Looking back at the play experience that my son—who is now 23—had when he was young, I think that the dirtier he was when he came home, the happier he was. I am now in the same position with the dog.
Ken Macintosh mentioned his family’s Wendy house. Being politically correct, in my house—as we had a little boy—we had a play house. I remember how he used that play house with his granny. He used to play Mugdock cafe, which would involve him serving his granny the cup of tea that she had when they went up to Mugdock to play. It was wonderful to watch them interact in that way. Of course, he was also learning. He was learning about how to co-operate with someone and how to listen to what they wanted.
A few months after I watched that one afternoon, the children of one of my friends, who was the same age as my son—about three—was diagnosed as a late speech developer. Lo and behold! The speech therapist told his mum to go out and buy a tea set, on the ground that that would get him speaking and co-operating. That is exactly what Kenneth had been doing with his granny without anyone telling him to do it.
I have one last story that I must share with members, which relates to intergenerational play. My son had a much younger cousin, so he was able to keep playing for many years into his teenage years, not because he wanted to play, but because he was doing it for Cameron. He loved that. We had foam swords, which are not terribly politically correct—although at least they were not guns. I gave in on that one. We used to go out at night time in the summer and they would go wild with the foam swords and have great battles. One day, we took a friend’s mum. My goodness, did that unleash the inner scary mum! She just went wild with the foam swords. It was great to watch that truly intergenerational play.
I can tell anecdotes and talk about my childhood and my son’s childhood but, as a librarian, what I am delighted about—members would expect me to say this—is the fact that we now have an evidence base that tells us how important play is in the development of young people. That is extremely important, because it allows us to play officially. That comes into the action plan at section 9.3. Being able to play because the evidence says that we can also allows people to invest in play, and we see that in section 9.12 of the action plan.
Many members have talked about how important it is that we involve young people in development of their play areas. In my constituency, there is the Kirkintilloch skate park, which I think is now about 10 years old. It was young folk who said that they wanted it. They got together and got support from the adults. Ten years on, the skate park is still incredibly well used.
My local nursery school takes the kids into my mum’s care home, which means that the old ladies get to watch the wee ones play; I am sure that it will not be long before they get down on the floor and start playing with the children. It is important that such initiatives are allowed officially and can be invested in.
The Scottish planning policy says that planning authorities should protect valued open space, which is incredibly important. Many members have met my constituents and fellow villagers from Westerton, who are fighting hard to maintain the 100-year-old green space there.
I wanted to pick up on two more subjects, but I do not think that I will have time to do so, so I will concentrate on health and safety. My husband has a background as a health and safety professional. Health and safety is not about being risk averse but about managing risk. It is not like the modern urban myths—Liz Smith raised one with Ken Macintosh—such as the idea that people cannot play conkers if they do not have safety specs on. That is not what health and safety is about; it is about the wearing of head protection and not having scrums when young children are playing rugby. That is managing risk, not being risk averse.
I have a brilliant quote from the Health and Safety Executive. In 2008, it said:
“We need to focus on finding ways for things to happen, not reasons to stop them—a sensible approach to managing risk focuses on practical action to tackle risks that cause real harm and suffering.”
That approach is embedded at points 9.10 and 9.11 of the play strategy action plan.
I talked about intergenerational play. Members should look at what Finland is doing with not outdoor gyms but outdoor play parks, where all go to play together.
From the minute they are born, we play with our children and they learn from that play. I hope that today is another of the days when the hashtag #Scotlandbestplacetogrowup is trending across the world.
15:46
The minister talked about the fact that play is also about learning, in that it can lead to young people being able to learn about independent choice, collaboration and co-operation, and risk-benefit assessment—that is a horrible term, to which I will return. Play also teaches young people about the consequences of actions. Those are surely all skills for life but, above all, as the minister said, play is fun.
Many members have reminisced; I want to do a bit of reminiscing, too. I also want to point out the intergenerational fun that we have when we play with children. James Dornan reminisced about his childhood, which sounded very like mine—it involved getting up in the morning, going out and not coming back until someone came and got you when it got dark. Looking back at the play experience that my son—who is now 23—had when he was young, I think that the dirtier he was when he came home, the happier he was. I am now in the same position with the dog.
Ken Macintosh mentioned his family’s Wendy house. Being politically correct, in my house—as we had a little boy—we had a play house. I remember how he used that play house with his granny. He used to play Mugdock cafe, which would involve him serving his granny the cup of tea that she had when they went up to Mugdock to play. It was wonderful to watch them interact in that way. Of course, he was also learning. He was learning about how to co-operate with someone and how to listen to what they wanted.
A few months after I watched that one afternoon, the children of one of my friends, who was the same age as my son—about three—was diagnosed as a late speech developer. Lo and behold! The speech therapist told his mum to go out and buy a tea set, on the ground that that would get him speaking and co-operating. That is exactly what Kenneth had been doing with his granny without anyone telling him to do it.
I have one last story that I must share with members, which relates to intergenerational play. My son had a much younger cousin, so he was able to keep playing for many years into his teenage years, not because he wanted to play, but because he was doing it for Cameron. He loved that. We had foam swords, which are not terribly politically correct—although at least they were not guns. I gave in on that one. We used to go out at night time in the summer and they would go wild with the foam swords and have great battles. One day, we took a friend’s mum. My goodness, did that unleash the inner scary mum! She just went wild with the foam swords. It was great to watch that truly intergenerational play.
I can tell anecdotes and talk about my childhood and my son’s childhood but, as a librarian, what I am delighted about—members would expect me to say this—is the fact that we now have an evidence base that tells us how important play is in the development of young people. That is extremely important, because it allows us to play officially. That comes into the action plan at section 9.3. Being able to play because the evidence says that we can also allows people to invest in play, and we see that in section 9.12 of the action plan.
Many members have talked about how important it is that we involve young people in development of their play areas. In my constituency, there is the Kirkintilloch skate park, which I think is now about 10 years old. It was young folk who said that they wanted it. They got together and got support from the adults. Ten years on, the skate park is still incredibly well used.
My local nursery school takes the kids into my mum’s care home, which means that the old ladies get to watch the wee ones play; I am sure that it will not be long before they get down on the floor and start playing with the children. It is important that such initiatives are allowed officially and can be invested in.
The Scottish planning policy says that planning authorities should protect valued open space, which is incredibly important. Many members have met my constituents and fellow villagers from Westerton, who are fighting hard to maintain the 100-year-old green space there.
I wanted to pick up on two more subjects, but I do not think that I will have time to do so, so I will concentrate on health and safety. My husband has a background as a health and safety professional. Health and safety is not about being risk averse but about managing risk. It is not like the modern urban myths—Liz Smith raised one with Ken Macintosh—such as the idea that people cannot play conkers if they do not have safety specs on. That is not what health and safety is about; it is about the wearing of head protection and not having scrums when young children are playing rugby. That is managing risk, not being risk averse.
I have a brilliant quote from the Health and Safety Executive. In 2008, it said:
“We need to focus on finding ways for things to happen, not reasons to stop them—a sensible approach to managing risk focuses on practical action to tackle risks that cause real harm and suffering.”
That approach is embedded at points 9.10 and 9.11 of the play strategy action plan.
I talked about intergenerational play. Members should look at what Finland is doing with not outdoor gyms but outdoor play parks, where all go to play together.
From the minute they are born, we play with our children and they learn from that play. I hope that today is another of the days when the hashtag #Scotlandbestplacetogrowup is trending across the world.
15:46
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
Good afternoon. The first item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08099, in the name of Aileen Campbell, on the play strategy action plan.
The Minister for Children and Young People (Aileen Campbell)
SNP
Maria Montessori said that “Play is the work of the child.” If we are a country that truly wants to become the best place to grow up in, we need to become a ...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
On the UNCRC, is the minister still considering changing the wording in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill to “having due regard to” as opposed to...
Aileen Campbell
SNP
The Education and Culture Committee has taken a lot of evidence on that, and the process will be on-going through the stages of the bill. We are certainly ve...
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
Does the minister take a view on the prevalence of “No ball games” signs in many areas, which often act as a deterrent to outdoor play for children and which...
Aileen Campbell
SNP
Absolutely. As I said, people should view open spaces as being equally for the benefit of children across the country and should allow children to access the...
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I doubt that anybody will quibble with the central ethos of the play strategy that we are debating this afternoon, as it goes without saying that play is par...
Aileen Campbell
SNP
I take on board Liz Smith’s points. I know that we have an ideological difference when it comes to the approaches in the bill, but she is keen on culture cha...
Liz Smith
Con
I thank the minister. I do not disagree with that. There are some deep-seated issues, and I heard the minister say earlier that she believes that in some sit...
Jayne Baxter (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to open for the Labour Party in this debate and to welcome the publication of the Scottish Government’s play strategy and action plan. I have wo...
Aileen Campbell
SNP
I made it clear in my opening speech that the strategy was not just about the play sector but about bringing lots of different departments together. For exam...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
I must ask Jayne Baxter to draw to a close.
Jayne Baxter
Lab
Okay. I thank the minister for her comments.There are some big aspirations in the action plan, and I hope that the minister will return to the chamber in the...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
We now come to the open debate. I remind members that if they wish to speak in the debate, they should press their request-to-speak buttons. That is particul...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome this debate and the Government’s play strategy action plan. The Scottish Government says that it wants Scotland to be the best place in the world t...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the minister for bringing this debate to the chamber, and particularly for her excellent timing. I do not imagine that I am the only one here who wil...
Liz Smith
Con
Ken Macintosh has made an exceptionally valid point. Does he agree that we should be concerned when what I would call common sense about some children’s play...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
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 an...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I remind members that speeches should be of six minutes. I call Mark McDonald, to be followed by James Dornan.15:17
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
On 7 August, part of the city centre of Aberdeen was essentially turned into a playground, with 250 to 300 children participating in the Aberdeen national pl...
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
SNP
There is no doubt that there are clear long-term economic and social benefits attached to play, and that investing in children’s play is one of the most impo...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Before Christian Allard begins, I remind members to address one other by their full names, not only because that is required by protocol, but because it make...
Christian Allard (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the Scottish Government’s action plan. We judge a society by how it looks after its children. As many members have mentioned, we have a lot to lear...
Anne McTaggart (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to contribute to this important debate on the Scottish Government’s play strategy and the wider efforts that are being made to ensure that Scotl...
Fiona McLeod (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
It is extremely important that the minister talked about the fact that article 31 of the UNCRC mentions that every child has the right to play. That is the r...
Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
It is too easy to dismiss play as a trivial activity for children. The reality is that play is about much more than just having fun. Like many other members,...
Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Like all my colleagues in the chamber, I fully support the development of a national play strategy. Play and recreation are essential to the health and wellb...
Aileen Campbell
SNP
I have a constructive point to make. I hope that Mary Fee would welcome the early years task force, which is the group that administers the change fund. Fami...
Mary Fee
Lab
I thank the minister for that clarity. Those families are an important section of society, and I am pleased that they will not be overlooked.I fully support ...
Richard Lyle (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I support the play strategy, as a father and grandfather. My grandson Ruaridh is now a year and a half old, and he teaches his grandfather how to play—of cou...