Baroness Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives and former children’s commissioner for England, said: “Generations of children are now growing up spending less time playing, less time outside, less time with their friends, and more time inside, glued to phones and social media.
An interim report by the Raising the Nation Play Commission inquiry has warned that children are spending less time playing and less time outdoors due to more “ distractions and demands”.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “Playtime has a very important role both inside and outside of school but schools are constantly having to juggle multiple pressures on the time that is available because they have to deliver a packed curriculum.”.
“Our streets and public spaces feel less safe, and children are losing hours of play time at school every month.
Ofsted should include a measure of time to play in schools in its assessments to reward schools who value play highly, it added.
