‘Children in England growing up ‘sedentary, scrolling and alone’, say experts’ - @Guardian 📰 theguardian.com/society/2025… 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 an annual £125m of funding. The experts leading the Raising the Nation Play Commission report, the entrepreneur @Paul_Lindley and former children’s commissioner @AnneLongfield, 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. The commission brought together 19 experts, from doctors to play campaigners, to act as commissioners and then held a series of evidence sessions hearing from children, parents and professionals around the country. Full report: 📖 centreforyounglives.org.uk/n… From traffic-dominated streets to the huge decline in youth clubs and loss of funds for playgrounds, experts pointed to the decline in neighbourhood spaces where children could actually play freely. @IngridSkeels, co-director of @PlayingOut, was one of the 19 commissioners and has spent 15 years campaigning for children to have safer streets to play on. “The findings here confirm what we have been warning for years – children are being driven indoors by a lack of safe spaces to play, move and socialise freely. We can’t just blame overprotective parents and screens – we have to make the outside world a place children can play in real life. It’s brilliant to have this in-depth, rigorous report confirm what we have heard from families for years, now it’s time for action.” #EverythingToPlayFor #PlayCommission #NationalPlayStrategy #PlaySufficiency #ItAllStartsWithPlay #KnowBallGames #RightToPlay #UNCRC #Article31