Right to Play

DECLARATION OF THE CHILD’S RIGHT TO PLAY
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child had its 25th anniversary on 20 November 2014! Spielmobile e.V. – Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft passed a declaration during its general meeting on 16 November 2014 – just in time for this anniversary. The declaration is about the child’s right to play and to free, self-determined time. We call on everybody who works with children, who has children and who supports children in our society to sign the following declaration. Please advance these demands through activities, projects and lobbying! (Download as PDF)

Declaration of the Child’s Right to Play and Free, Self-determined Time

Childhood – as an independent phase of life – has changed dramatically at an enormous speed. The associated consequences and structures deprive children of time and space to play in an unprecedented manner!

The winds of change have been sweeping through the country after the so-called PISA shock of 2001. The conclusions of the educational debate in Germany and other European countries have led to increased expectations and an increased pressure to perform on children. At the same time, it has become almost impossible for children to spend time playing in an independent, unobserved and unsupervised way.

We assert the following:
Children are confronted with ever more narrow boundaries in their pursuit of happiness and freedom. Adults rationalise, clock and oversee childhood and structure it with laws and rules. They desire full-service care and safety for their children without undetermined free spaces.
Children must always function. They spend a lot of time in all-day care and are occupied with academic tasks! We overwhelm children with well-intended educational programmes and well-intended and closely coordinated care. We create conditions for children that offer less and less space for independent, self-determined play.

But children play!
Children discover, explore and embrace the world in a playful manner. They develop their personality in a playful manner. Socially competent and communicative, they can and want to take decisions, follow their own interests and experiment with the unknown. They develop continuously and intrinsically. This is only possible if they are allowed to decide for themselves and are offered the necessary time.

Children must play!
Human beings can only learn life skills under active and self-determined conditions and when playing. They have to use all their senses to make connections. This requires room to play and natural spaces – these are, however, more and more limited and turned into predetermined usable spaces. Due to the elimination and rationalisation of accessible rooms to play and natural spaces, children meet less and less with like-minded children and engage little in self-determined creative activities. At the same time, the amount of virtual and artificially created gaming worlds, which are easy to digest and reduce sensual diversity, increases excessively. The development and formation of manual, cultural, social and creative skills happen less and less in a playful and self-determined manner. Modern technology, excessive provisions and around-the-clock care eliminate the self-driven acquisition of necessary life skills.

Playing is a fundamental right!
Playing isn’t only a fundamental need of children. Children also have a right to play. This right is embodied in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, which entered into force in Germany in 1992.
Playing doesn’t have to be justified. It is a biological pattern of every human being. This applies explicitly to playing outdoors without educational guidance by adults. Adults do play, too, but for children, playing is a central element of life and growing-up.
Article 31, paragraph 1 of the Convention states the following: “States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”
This right is also enshrined in §11 of SGB 8 (German Social Code 8). Society’s educational mission includes the equal promotion of social competencies, knowledge and cognitive and cultural skills and considers independent, self-determined and creative playing very important. Since playing equals trying, experiencing, appropriating and interacting with the world. The qualities and unique effects of playing have been researched sustainably from a philosophical, educational, neurobiological as well as a social and educational science standpoint: Playing is vital and an unalienable fundamental right!

We ask all adults in their respective areas of responsibility:

The holistic realisation of the rights of the child to play and free time
A significant extension of exercise enhancing, crafts-oriented and culturally aesthetic spaces for experiencing, that allow for the exploration and stabilisation of social, communicative and practical skills
More time for children to indulge their joy of discovering the world
More time for children to play with other children in a self-determined manner
A reduction of school performance obligations for all children
Brave and continuous efforts to support the rights of the child to freedom and adventures
All children want to play and adults must provide adequate time and space for this need. Adults determine the conditions of childhood – we must alter these conditions for our children, respecting the values and spirit of the rights of the child!

Support our declaration
and let’s campaign for a societal change. For the children. For their right to play and free and self-determined time!

Manifest für das Recht der Kinder auf Spiel und freie, selbstbestimmte Zeit(PDF – 258.9 kB)