Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
Children growing up 'sedentary, alone and scrolling' as space to play declines
The Guardian
|June 11, 2025
Children are growing up "sedentary, scrolling and alone" because of a dramatic decline in play in their lives, say a panel of experts who have spent a year investigating play and childhood in England.
The government should ban "no ball games" signs, raise the digital age of consent to 16, restore play to the education system and put in place a statutory "play sufficiency duty" for local authorities, say the panel, who are urgently calling for a cross departmental national play strategy backed by annual funding of £125m.
The experts leading the Raising the Nation Play Commission report, the entrepreneur Paul Lindley and the former children's commissioner Anne Longfield, say that failure to provide children with the spaces they need outside the home is leading to a huge loss of outdoor play and independence.
This story is from the June 11, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Oil price rise prompts fresh interest in EV vehicles from US motorists
US car buyers are showing a surge in interest in electric vehicles after Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran helped to cause a big increase in gasoline prices.
1 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
High Pfas levels found in blood of residents in town hit by scare
Alarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been found in the blood of people living in a town where Pfas-contaminated sites were detected.
2 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
Hungarian officials 'gave forced injection' to Ukrainian man after bank vehicle raid
Hungarian security operatives gave a “forced injection” to one of the Ukrainians detained this month during a dramatic raid on bank vehicles carrying gold bars and tens of millions of dollars and euros in cash, sources have told the Guardian.
3 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
'Its skull was droplet-shaped' Brazilian town's true believers defend tale of close encounter
The skies over Varginha, a far-flung coffee-growing hub, went charcoal black, the heavens opened and one of Brazil’s greatest mysteries was born.
2 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
Three ways to end conflict As war spins out of control, what might happen next?
Brinkmanship, the ability to take a country to the edge of war without plunging into the abyss, was always the staple of cold war diplomacy, associated with John Foster Dulles, the US secretary of state in the 1950s.
5 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
'It's shock after shock' Nations pay the price of faraway war
From the Philippines cutting down to a four-day week to save electricity, to rents being frozen in Spain, the economic fallout of the US-Israeli war on Iran has reverberated around the world.
9 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
Student loans Should the bank of mum and dad pay uni debts?
We run through the options for families worried about their offspring being saddled with huge debts for years.
8 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
Lazy days of passion and privilege at Gorky’s dacha
In 1898, Maxim Gorky wrote a fan letter to Anton Chekhov and the leading light in Russian theatre convinced him to try his hand at plays.
1 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
'More than a transaction' H&M boss on the joy of high streets
Almost exactly 50 years after H&M opened its first British store, the doors on its newest, in Brighton, swung wide this week with the Swedish fashion company’s UK boss showing she is determined to keep investing in the nation’s high streets despite its struggles.
2 mins
March 21, 2026
The Guardian
Final design agreed for Trump coin to mark US anniversary
The final design for a 24-carat gold coin bearing Donald Trump’s image has been approved by a federal arts commission to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence on 4 July.
1 mins
March 21, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size