Give children a break and put play back on the map

After family relationships, low self-esteem and unhappiness were the second most common reasons why children contacted the helpline last year. The statistics add to growing evidence that children are struggling to cope with the complex world around them. From the demands of school to the pressure of the digital age, children are feeling pressured to conform and be successful like never before. We need to give them a break - it's time to let them have some fun and play.

While it's fun, play is also a serious business. It's through play that children learn about the world around them, develop social skills, work out relationships, learn about boundaries, explore how to negotiate, and build their sense of self-identity and confidence. And this is within an environment that is less pressured - after all, they are just playing.

It's through play that children make friends when they move to a new area or country and make sense of their experiences of the world. Play is the antidote to the rigid and exacting demands of social media - the way that all children get a chance of being involved. As well as helping children to overcome anxiety and loneliness and build self-esteem, active play keeps children healthy and boosts their physical skills.

Last year, a YouGov survey of young people I commissioned revealed that one of the best things they thought about being a child was not having the same responsibilities as adults and being able to play. So let's make these statistics on children's self-esteem and happiness a wake-up call, and take serious action to put play back into children's lives.

While children used to play out with friends every day, for most children today playtime only happens indoors. A Play England survey last year found that while 71 per cent of adults played outside every day when they were children, only 21 per cent of children today regularly play outdoors. By contrast, the time spent watching TV, using social media or playing computer games has rocketed.

Times have changed

We can't ignore the fact that the communities we live in have changed. Roads are busier and more dangerous than in the days of street play. As car ownership spiked towards the 1980s, so too did the number of children being killed in road accidents - 12,500 children were either killed or seriously hurt by a car in 1979. These numbers have fallen today as children have retreated indoors. In urban areas, people are more mobile so less likely to know their neighbours like they once did which feeds parental worries about strangers. Many open spaces and parks have either been built upon or become no go zones for children, unless they are supervised.

As we look at what needs to be done to tackle children's mental health, we need to seriously consider how opportunities for play can be increased. We should start with our streets. Hackney Council is well known for its leading work on "street play" which is now gaining increasing interest and take up in communities around the country. The scheme allows groups of parents to apply to have a residential road temporarily closed to traffic to become a play street.

Also, the benefits of taking a play-based approach in the classroom are well known, but there are still opportunities to open more schools after hours and during holidays for play. The government is running a consultation on after-school activities which may well come to some of these conclusions.

Importantly too, there is the need to look at how communities and housing are planned. The Prime Minister has announced plans to transform some of the most disadvantaged estates - let's ensure safe places for children to play are at their heart.

There has never been a more important time to put play back into the lives of children to lay the foundations for healthier, happier childhoods and we must seize every opportunity to do so.

Anne Longfield is children's commissioner for England