Cars really speed along here and I'm nervous all the time
that my kid's gonna run out and get hit by a car.
Children are not getting the physical activity they need,
their mental health is at breaking point.
Everyone loses out from the society where children are ill,
unhealthy, unhappy.
I'm Harriet Grant,
I've been reporting for the Guardian on children's right to play
for the past few years.
Children face many barriers to playing on their own doorsteps,
but some parents are fighting back.
It's refreshing not to see cars shooting down
this road 100 miles an hour.
We need to reclaim the space on children's doorsteps.
Ready, 1, 2, 3.
So we're in Bristol,
which is the home of an organisation called Playing Out,
who are trying to bring play streets back to life.
Which is where people get permission to shut the road to traffic
and let children come out and play.
There we go.
We know that children in Britain are ...
Sadder than ever, that they're unhealthier than ever
and I've always been very interested in the role
that the lack of play, plays in this.
And how the restrictions on children's freedom are
affecting their physical and mental health.
So you've got White Hill Road here and you've got a Church Road there,
so this is just a cut through.
The energy that they've got on the main road filters on to our road as well.
I understand about access,
but it's definitely not people who live here that are using this road.
We've only done two of these so far,
but it's just been so nice to feel like they can play outside
and have ownership over the street.
Reminding people that this is a place where people live.
Feels like the streets are much more full of life.
Playing Out began because we want to change things,
over 1,500 streets in estate communities have regularly played out.
It's tapped into something that parents in a lot of places feel.
What about this argument that I see all the time,
'Why can't they just go to the park?'
You have to cross a lot of roads to get to a park usually,
so it's not something children can do on their own anymore.
But also there's something about children being able to
feel comfortable and happy in the public space
right outside their door.
Which is the start of their life as citizens.
Do you think that as you've had success with the streets,
the wider culture has got worse?
Yeah, objections to children playing have got worse.
2, 3, up!
Through Covid, there were obviously objections around safety,
but that's turned into objections from people like,
'I'm trying to work from home and I can hear children playing.'
It's the Victorian, seen and not heard.
Yeah.
I think what's so lovely to see is
how many little games are going on, completely child-led.
Just shows how creative kids can be
when they're given space and time and permission.
There's a doctor, she's pretty wonderful
and you must have some sort of ailment, right?
I've got a really sore head.
Eat one of these and then you'll feel better.
Okay.
It's gone.
Find us a different patient.
Find a different patient?
More patients I'm actually –
She's kicking me out, move on.
It's like a real GP.
He looks really happy to be on his bike in the street.
He loves being on his bike in the street
and you don't normally get a get a chance, do you?
I remember when I was growing up, like,
you could play on the street, we had a little group of kids that
I always played with.
Some people are being reminded what children
might do if they had the space.
Yeah, exactly.
My youngest child is 10,
so he's sort of more on the Xbox than playing outdoors at the moment.
Unfortunately that seems to be the trend.
What was your childhood like in terms of play?
I had to rule when the lights go out you got to come down
and my parents weren't too concerned as long as I turned up at home.
I have lived here since 2005
and I've never known more neighbours than I have in the last couple of months.
It is community, it's not just about children.
Got to go off the streets.
It's so lively, I love this place.
I know.
OK, you can open it up now.
Several streets are closing today across Bristol,
we went to another play street, this one on a nearby cul-de-sac.
Right boys,
stay to the side.
You typically associate cul-de-sacs with children playing,
I grew off in a cul-de-sac but cars couldn't drive up right up into it.
So we used to play in the bit where the cars couldn't reach,
but here they feel that they've got to shut
the cul-de-sac just so the kids here can be safe to play.
Which I think is interesting and sad.
Are you okay?
Good boy.
I'll pick you up and put you on the grass.
Let me put you somewhere, oh my God, that's sticky.
No trust me, you will like it.
Sometimes it feels like when they do see friends
it's like an organised thing where they have to go to a club
and obviously if you want to go to a club, you pay for the club,
you have to pay for transport and you have to find transport.
Do you think given the chance you would probably choose
to come out and be with your friends?
Yeah, so I'd rather, like, spend more time outside than
on, like, computers and consoles and stuff.
Most of the people here live down the street and stuff,
you can get their phone number and then you know where they live,
you might be able to go to their house.
I know that for you two this isn't the end game, is it?
Our hope is that it will be a catalyst for people realising
that children have lost something.
Everyone loses out from a society where children are ill,
unhealthy, unhappy, needing mental health support, you know?
Even if you're not worried about children themselves,
the cost of that, even if all you care about is the cost,
it doesn't make sense to carry on as we are now.
We can't carry on as we are now.
What can we do though given the number of cars
and the fact that there's barely an empty space now?
We need government at the highest level to understand
children need to be able to move, to play, to socialise for free,
close to where they live.
Specific government policies would be things like,
bringing in 20 miles an hour in all residential areas,
bringing in planning law that considers children's need to play outside.
Housing associations could get rid of no ball game signs,
that would be a massive change.
And also at individual level there's loads we can do.
It will have to be more of a conscious effort and to kind of reclaim
some of our space from cars and have, you know, a better balance.
Bubbles.
I think a lot of Britain's problems boil down to
the complete loss of street life and of children's presence on the street.
I mean we've got a child's mental and physical health crisis in this country
and people are looking at solutions but one of the most obvious
is if children can play more and they can do it close to home with their friends.
Closing streets to play isn't the end goal
for Alice and Ingrid and Playing Out.
They want the loss of children's play space to be talked about
in the heart of government, not just on people's doorsteps.