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About IPA
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The Child's Right to Play
Declaration |
Background:
IPA is an international organization founded in
Denmark in 1961 and has members in over 50 countries. It is an
interdisciplinary organization, bringing together people from all
professions working for and with children, including playworkers, planners,
psychologists, educators, academics, architects, artists, researchers,
childcare workers, trainers, health workers, and landscape designers. The
purpose of IPA is to protect, preserve and promote the child's right to play
as a fundamental human right.
IPA Canada was formed in 1973 after IPA's trienniel
conference that year in Ottawa. The Canadian organization provides a vehicle
for multi-disciplinary exchange and action towards preserving the child's
right to play in Canada.
The Importance of Play:
Play is fundamental to all aspects of child
development and is a key component in preserving community and culture, in
the broadest sense.
Play is valuable in children's physical exercise and
growth and in their development of motor skills. Children playing together
present rich opportunities for social, moral and emotional development and
hence for the development of their personality and their ability to handle
stress and conflict. It is in free play that children learn to understand
and co-operate with others. The quintessential nature of play is that it is
initiated and controlled by children and this element, and the resulting
social competence, has been critically linked to the development of
resiliency in children and youth at risk.
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Natural outdoor play environments offer important
opportunities for children to begin to value the environment. Through play
children explore cause and effect and gradually build a knowledge base that
cannot be taught through structured learning activities. Play is a vehicle
for the development of creativity and flexibility, invaluable qualities in
human development.
Play can be a vehicle for children to pass on their
culture, for sharing between generations, and for children to communicate
their feelings and ideas to adults. Through play young children learn to
become active participants in community. Play days and play festivals are a
major form of celebration of culture and community around the world. Play is
also a way for children to gain a sense of control over difficult
circumstances as witnessed in hospital settings and in war zones.
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child,
ratified by Canada in 1991, requires governments:
To recognize the right of the child…to engage in
play and recreational activities appropriate for the age of the child….
To encourage the provision of appropriate and equal
opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.
 Misconception of the Value of Play
The importance of play to children is strongly
supported by researchers from a range of disciplines including psychology,
education, philosophy, anthropology and recreation. In spite of this,
society as a whole continues to view play as a frivolous pastime, at best
useful for children to "let off steam."
The reasons for this misunderstanding are many and
varied. One reason is our difficulty in clearly defining play. Play is not
synonymous with recreation, although there are many opportunities for play
in recreation programs and environments, and it does not include everything
children do in their leisure time. Play is not created by adults for
children, but behaviour children initiate themselves. Play is spontaneous,
self-motivated, controlled by the child. Ideally, the adult role combines
setting the stage and facilitating; that is, supporting rather than
directing children's play.
For reasons already outlined, specialists in
children's play theory see play as fundamental to human development.
Examples of Barriers to the Child's Right to Play
Attitudes toward children's play,
and/or lack of public awareness of the value of play, are arguably the
underlying cause of most of these barriers.
A concerted effort on the part of governments,
organizations and communities should be made to promote the fact that play
and learning are not competing ideologies
Time: This lack of awareness of the significance of play
results in the control of children's time. The current perception is that
school work and the learning of specific skills is the best path to
"success" in this increasingly competitive world economy.
Parents and other decision makers must ensure a
balance in children's lives both to avoid unhealthy levels of stress and
to allow opportunities for informal play
Changing Family Life Patterns can have
a negative effect on children's opportunities for free play. Increasing
workloads have limited parents' time and energy to play with their
children and this in turn has resulted in children spending more time in
organized programs.
Employment policies which recognize the value of
parents' time with children should be supported and applauded.
After school programmers should be encouraged to
focus on play.
Technology: T.V. computers and
computer games are not entirely without elements of play. However, the
number of hours children can devote to screens of one kind or another, can
be damaging.
Schools, communities and parents must work
together to ensure a balance in children's lives through offering engaging
alternatives to sedentary and isolated activities
Education and Training of Professionals:
There is little play content in professional development curricula.
Children would benefit from an increase in knowledge of play by
architects, landscape and interior designers, planners, health
professionals, teachers, coaches, and recreationists. Even in traditional
bastions of children's play theory, such as early childhood education and
recreation, there is increasing pressure to teach skills and to conform to
a market-driven mindset.
Recreation and out-of-school care providers need
to join forces to develop standards, guidelines and curricula along with
appropriate delivery mechanisms which will serve in the education and
training of all professionals who work for and with children.
Places for Children to Play: There are
a number of issues that create barriers to children's play opportunities
in Canadian communities:
Playgrounds The 20th century version
of a children's public playground represents a very narrow view of
children's play. Also, with the mixed blessing of safety regulations
they are becoming increasingly less challenging and less interesting to
children. Taking risk such as climbing, building with tools,
skateboarding etc. is a necessary part of natural growth and
development. So also is interaction with the natural environment.
There is a need for a paradigm shift in the way
we think about playgrounds. Children need a wider range of play
possibilities, which would be ensured through a much greater variety of
play material and by involving children in the planning process. Also
the availability of play facilitators (not supervisors) would greatly
enhance the play possibilities. Special consideration should be given to
access for children with disabilities.
Schoolgrounds: Schoolgrounds are
currently not valued as important settings for social or educational
development although students spend approximately twenty-five percent of
their time at school on school grounds. The lack of value placed on
school grounds is manifested in wastelands of gravel, mud and hard
surfaces, often void of trees, grass and interesting places for children
to play and socialize.
There is a need for Provincial and/or Regional
leadership to address the under-utilization of schoolgrounds as places
where children's natural development is enhanced. Schoolgrounds should
be seen as valuable community space. Provincial and municipal
governments, school boards, unions, parent groups and students
themselves should share in the responsibility for them.
Playgrounds: The 20th century
version of a children's public playground represents a very narrow view
of children's play. Also, with the mixed blessing of safety regulations
they are becoming increasingly less challenging and less interesting to
children. Taking risk such as climbing, building with tools,
skateboarding etc. is a necessary part of natural growth and
development. So also is interaction with the natural environment.
Decision-makers and planners should apply a
‘child friendly lens' to policy affecting young people in public space
and involve children themselves as much as possible. Examples of things
that may be considered are; preservation of undeveloped land, parks that
are close to schools and jointly planned with schools, community gardens
where children and youth can care for plants, and parks and open space
that offer children and youth opportunities for climbing, challenge and
adventure.
Housing and Local Streets:
Children's first experiences of the world are typically contained within
their homes, yards and streets close by. Multi-family housing complexes
do not always adequately accommodate children's play, and attitudes
toward children and youth playing "close to home" often discourage such
play. Traffic is a serious and increasing hazard in many communities.
Children would benefit from a higher priority
put on playspace particularly in multi-family housing, and by rental or
sale agreements that do not place restrictions on the normal play and
recreation activities of children and youth. Planners should ensure a
wide range of environments to encourage many kinds of children's play
and ensure they are well situated, safe, and well maintained.
Safety: Fear of abuse and abduction
has become a real threat to children's free play particularly outdoor
play which is so important for their development.
Efforts need to be made by municipal
programmers, parent and community groups, especially in high-risk
neighbourhoods, for children to have opportunities to play with other
children in safety.
Conclusions:
Play is not just about providing safe playgrounds
for children. It is fundamentally about protecting their right to be free
to explore and discover the physical and social world around them on their
own terms.
Child advocates must be vigilant in their
protection of this right, for the twenty-first century offers serious
threats to this seemingly natural and simple aspect of human
development.
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