Grim picture for kids’ play
Survey suggests ‘shocking’ number of children are not playing every day
Achild’s drawing of the YouTube logo is a “staggering” illustration of how kids are choosing technology over play. A study shows a “shocking” number of children in Lower Hutt are not playing every day — 88 per cent of surveyed kids said they weren’t, while 96 per cent of parents said their children were not playing daily.
The number of those playing is well below the national average of 46 per cent, which was reported in a Nestle State of Play study.
The research surveyed 315 children aged 5-15, as well as parents.
Hutt City Council sport and recreation manager Mark Curr said the figures showed a “crisis”.
He said the researchers talked to kids and asked them to draw pictures. “[They drew] YouTube logos, cell phones, themselves watching television. Our kids are choosing technology over play. Parents support that because it’s safer and the kids are inside and they’re warm.
“The things that they drew were kind of staggering . . . it’s heavy. Play is defined as freely chosen, independent and for no reason,” Curr said.
There were other reasons that could be affecting the difference in numbers, such as a lack of free time.
Part of it could be that more parents were travelling to and from work and didn’t have time to support play for their children.
“Ours is a city where more lemons have to line up in order for our kids to access quality play.
“Our kind of formative memories are 12 kids just roaming around the streets just getting into trouble, but it’s not happening,” said Curr, who added that the numbers were “depressing”.
More than half of the reasons kids weren’t playing every day was down to parental fears around dangers such as loose dogs, traffic and strangers.
Curr said the council, which carried out the Play in the Hutt study with Healthy Families Lower Hutt and Sport New Zealand, is looking at ways to combat parents’ perceptions of the dangers facing their children when they were out playing.
Parental fears and constraints account for more than 53 per cent of the barriers that kids face to playing in their neighbourhood, despite the fact studies show parents resoundingly believe in the value of play and support their kids in doing so. “That’s the scariest part right now. “I’m a parent and my wife and I have a pitch battle about when’s the right time to let our little guy bike to school.”
He said the council would like to present the statistics around neighbourhood dangers “as they really are” to help parents feel safer letting their children play.
“Play is the foundation for how kids negotiate all that wonderful, physical, cognitive, social stuff. It’s how kids practice life.”
The research was gathered by council staff heading into the community and speaking to people — holding street parties and surveys.
“We just go to a park and dump a whole lot of stuff that’s fun in a park . . . and people come and talk to us.”
Every conversation was collected, and kids were encouraged to write their thoughts down.
There was an idea in Antwerp that on every block or street corner there should be something children could engage with, and Curr thought such a strategy should be employed here.
“I want my little kids to go to their mailbox and see something cool they can play with, and I want them to get on their bike and go to another one that’s really cool.
“We’re interested in creating a better world for our young people.”
Part of the council’s plan to encourage play is launching Build and Play, a programme that offers kids opportunities for free, creative, and occasionally risky play with a trailer load of tools, including saws, hammers, hand drills, timber, PVC pipes, tennis balls and recycled items.
The programme will be rolled out at Belmont and Waterloo schools this term, with plans to expand it to other schools through 2018 and community groups in 2019, with a goal of reaching 6000 Lower Hutt children in 2020. Each school will receive a risk assessment and programme training, along with recommendations on running the programme for the best results.