Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

31 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Play Strategy Action Plan

Campbell, Aileen SNP Clydesdale Watch on SPTV

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 very firm in the way in which we have laid out our commitments to the UNCRC, which is the most appropriate way to recognise rights and make them real.

We should also recognise that play as a concept is not a static entity. As generations pass and the years roll by, play evolves and changes. I am sure that many of us remember playing outside around our homes and communities, and I am sure that many of us also recognise that children play outdoors less and less. Children’s natural range has shrunk over the past few generations, with many venturing no further than their back gardens unsupervised. Moreover, we live in a digital age. TV, computers, tablets and a range of other technological advances increasingly see children playing inside on their own. That is not wholly bad, but we need to be alert to the consequences.

Through the play strategy and action plan, I want to see children play outside more often. We need to encourage our children to get outside and to start exploring the often wild open spaces that Scotland has in abundance. We must change the culture of the perception of children as a problem in public spaces, characterised by the “No ball games” signs we still see in communities, and we must reinforce the message that children have the same right to use public spaces as every other member of society.

We must also recognise play within the built environment. The quality of our surroundings has a fundamental influence on how we behave, and we must work to create places that provide the opportunities for active and healthy lifestyles—places that are safe, welcoming, attractive and pleasant; places where we respond positively to our surroundings and to each other. That is encapsulated in our policy statement on architecture and play, “Creating Places”, which was published in June.

The Government also places significant emphasis on the importance of the quality of our streets and spaces. “Designing Streets” is the Scottish Government’s policy on street design, which is aimed at refocusing the role of our streets and places to serve people first and allow children to have access to safe and vibrant streets where there is ample opportunity and incentive to play and engage with their surroundings, whether in structured or informal situations. The play strategy brings together developments in planning and architecture and shows that play is not just about the play sector, but is part and parcel of what many different portfolios, departments, agencies and professions need to consider as part of their work.

It is also important that we dispel some of the myths around outdoor play and promote the long-term benefits of exposure to risk, both to physical health and to developing resilience and mental wellbeing. Parents’ perception of risks is often higher than the reality, and that should be weighed against the benefits of outdoor play.

In my role as minister I have seen some of the very real benefits of outdoor play. That includes schools that have greened up their playing spaces, such as Rigside primary in my constituency and many other schools, and have witnessed a subsequent improvement in pupil behaviour, and organisations that have got children climbing trees, digging for beasties and jumping in puddles, such as the Jeely Piece Club in Castlemilk and many others across Scotland.

Search Hansard contributions

Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

In the same item of business