November 20th is World Children’s Day!
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child of 1924. For more information or to endorse the revitalized 2024 declaration, please visit 2024 Geneva Declaration. November 20th also marks the 35th anniversary of Canada ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC). To mark this occasion, PLAYLearnThink would like to shine the light on Article 31 of the UN CRC which is known as the Play Article. Unfortunately, it is also known as the forgotten article since very little is done by world governments, including Canada, to uphold the child’s right to play despite the efforts of national organizations such as the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC) and the Canadian branch of the International Play Association (IPA Canada).
The UN CRC has been ratified by all countries on the planet save one. As a signatory, Canada is bound to uphold all the articles of the convention yet every Canadian governmental report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has failed to mention the child’s right to play.
In 2011, at the urging of IPA World, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child began the process of drafting a General Comment on Article 31. A General Comment is a UN document which is sent to all countries outlining their failings to uphold a specific article and makes concrete recommendations for actions to rectify the situation. The General Comment on Article 31 (UN GC-17) was published in early 2013 yet no action has been taken by Canada to support and promote self-directed play.
Play is a fundamental necessity for children. It underpins their cognitive, social, physical, emotional and spiritual development. Play is not organized sports which tend to be adult structured. Play is intrinsically motivated and self-directed. Children engage in play when they are free to choose what they do, how they do it, when they do it, where they do it and with whom (alone or with others). Children’s innate need to play drives their exploration of their physical and social environments which allows children to build knowledge about the world around them and develop skills they will need to navigate life’s challenges.
In today’s busy world, there are plenty of obstacles to children’s free play. With societal pressure to focus on academic and athletic performance, parents feel a desire to structure children’s day to day activities in such a way that there is very little to no time left for child-directed play. This lack of free play for children is contributing to the annual rise of psychological distress being observed in children across our country. This is not surprising since children are not getting the opportunity to develop skills such as resilience and self-confidence that they nurture through their self-directed play. As adults, we must not forget that play is a fundamental necessity for the healthy development of children.
Play becomes even more important during times of crisis. Far too many children around the world live in conditions harmful to their well-being such as war, poverty, violence and isolation. Sadly in these conditions, children’s opportunities to play are often severely diminished.
When children play, they feel safe. They are free to explore their emotions and they learn to understand that various situations can make them feel differently. Through their self-directed play children develop skills which help them process environmental stress and anxiety. This helps them nurture their self-confidence and build resilience which will serve them well in the future.
When opportunities to play are diminished, children are deprived of their natural coping mechanism. Studies on play deprivation have shown that no play can have devastating and long lasting effects on children’s development (Children Without Play, Webb and Brown, 2005). As various tensions increase around the globe, it is imperative that we recognize the child’s need (and right) to play. It is the best defence they have against anxiety and depression in a complex and sometimes harmful world.
Click here to download and view IPA Canada’s Declaration on Play.