Covid exercise messaging left children stuck indoors, UK inquiry hears

"Alice Ferguson, the founding director of Playing Out, which campaigns for children's freedom to play outside, told the inquiry that play was fundamental for children's health and wellbeing, especially play outside with other children. Yet during Covid, children were ordered indoors by police if they were caught playing in the street or having a kickabout with a ball and neighbours complained."

"By not explicitly mentioning children and play in those guidelines and in those rules, the prime minister gave the impression that only really adult forms of exercise were permitted, things like walking, cycling or running. So it did create this wider understanding including amongst police, councils, parents and the wider public that children playing out was not a permitted activity."

"Some parents were even fined for letting their children play outside. In one example, two brothers who lived in a high-rise flat in central London came out to build a snowman in January 2021, but were ordered to go back inside by police. Ferguson said the incident had a lasting impact on one of the boys, who remains socially anxious."

Play is fundamental for children's health and wellbeing, especially outdoor play with peers. During Covid, public guidance allowed one form of exercise a day, framed as a run, walk, or cycle, which did not reflect how children exercise. The absence of explicit mention of children and play gave the impression that only adult forms of exercise were permitted, influencing police, councils, parents and the wider public. Children were ordered indoors, families received fines, and neighbours complained when children played. A cited incident of two brothers building a snowman led to lasting social anxiety in one boy.

Read at www.theguardian.com