Hot play, wet play... no play at all - If kids can’t cope with sun or rain, what are we teaching them? Writes Nick Ferrari

And yes, it’s summer, it’s meant to be hot, and yes, people can sometimes overdo the drama. But when you’re talking about temperatures nudging into the low or even mid-30s, that is damned hot by British standards.

So what do we make of schools banning children from playing outside in this weather?

Until reading today’s Daily Telegraph, I hadn’t even realised this was a thing. Apparently, we already have something called "wet play sessions" — when it rains, kids aren’t allowed out at playtime and are kept indoors instead.

To me, that is ridiculous. Unless we’re talking lightning strikes, torrential rain, or a flood pouring down the high street, children should absolutely be outside — experiencing different weather.

No one’s saying they should be left outside shivering, drenched as if someone dumped a bucket of water over them. But they should be allowed to get wet. And now, it seems, we’re not even going to let them get hot either.

Welcome to the world of "hot play" — another policy designed to keep children away from outdoor surfaces like tarmac and metal shelters that might become hot to the touch during heatwaves.

I know how this sounds. It’s easy to dismiss it as another "back in my day" gripe. But do you not see what this is doing?

We are breeding generations who, when it rains, don’t know they can go out — because as children, they never did. Some of the best sport I ever played — and I wasn’t exactly any good at the damn thing — was in the pouring rain and even in the snow.

The best fun you’ll have playing football is when it’s snowing. Heading the ball and watching it just stop mid-air? That’s what being a child is all about.

And yet, we wonder — generation after generation — why young people are so often accused of being fragile, overprotected, reluctant. So many of the criticisms levelled at Gen Z are not only unfair but completely miss the point.

It’s not that they refuse to do things. It’s that they haven’t had the opportunity. If you continue to — and yes, I’ll use the word — mollycoddle them, what exactly do you expect?

Before you think I’ve gone raving mad, let me be clear: I’m not saying children should be out from noon to 3pm, running around without suncream in full sun for hours.

Of course not. But part of growing up is about experiencing the elements — whether it’s getting soaked playing rugby or baking on the cricket pitch.

This obsession with shielding kids from every drop of rain and ray of sun? It’s setting them up to fail.

Have you seen it? Rain starts to pour, and they say: Well, we won’t go out then.

And that’s the problem.

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Nick Ferrari is LBC's Breakfast presenter

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