Taking away the tablet isn't enough to help a screen-addicted child - we must teach them how to play

Their children are glued to a screen, resistant to going outside and struggling to entertain themselves without a device.

As a child psychologist and former sports coach, I have watched this play out in clinics, in schools, in sports and in my own research, and it has convinced me of something that the government's welcome new social media ban for under-16s does not yet fully grasp.

Taking phones and screens away from children is only half the job. We also have to give them something to do instead.

August 5th marked National Playday, the UK's 39th annual celebration of children's right to play, and this year it is being championed by Play Their Way, the campaign pushing for children's play to be treated as a national priority.

It arrives at a genuinely hopeful moment. The government's plan to restrict social media for under-16s, expected to become law in spring 2027, is the boldest attempt yet to loosen the grip phones and screens have on childhood.

But new research released on Playday by Play Their Way and UK Coaching, conducted by Ipsos, shows why legislation on screens cannot stand alone.

Almost three in four parents believe their children spend too little time in active play. Meanwhile, almost half of children themselves say they want to spend more time playing. These are not children who have chosen screens over play out of preference.

The barriers parents highlight are just as revealing. Time spent watching TV, videos and streamed content, gaming and social media all rank as obstacles, but so too does something less discussed.

A lack of suitable or safe places to play is cited by 46% of parents and 30% of children when asked what stops them playing outside with friends. Shockingly, a similar number of parents said their child had dropped out of a sport simply because it 'wasn't fun enough.’ We have to ask why sport isn’t fun enough; what else do they have access to that feels more fun than engaging in sports?

Play is the mechanism of children's development. Unstructured, child-led play teaches emotional regulation, risk assessment, negotiation, resilience and social connection, which builds interpersonal skills and confidence.

This is where coaches have a vital role to play. Having spent years in sport myself, I have seen first-hand how a coach who prioritises fun and freedom over rigid structure can transform a child's relationship with the activity.

Coaches are often the adults best placed to help children reclaim and rediscover play, not just supervise it. When coaching puts curiosity and enjoyment first, children stay active for longer, and that consistency feeds directly into their mental health, wellbeing and development. That’s why coaches can be one of our most powerful tools for turning children away from screens and back towards movement and friendship.

This is why I am adding my voice to Play Their Way, a national movement to transform the way children are coached in sport and physical activity through child-first coaching, and Play England, England’s national charity for play, to revive the strategy he launched in 2008.

The strategy was abandoned within months by the coalition government that followed and in the eighteen years since, an entire generation has grown up without one. Instead, these children have fallen prey to big tech, who have captured and monetised their attention, damaging their childhoods.

There has been over a decade and a half without national policy on something so crucial that shapes almost every measure of a child's wellbeing we claim to care about.

A National Play Strategy would do what legislation on phones and devices cannot. It would fund and protect the streets, parks and playgrounds that children need. It would embed children's right to play into planning, transport, education and health policy. It would also ensure coaches and adults working with children put fun and freedom, not just fitness, at the centre of what they do, so fewer children walk away from sport because it stopped being enjoyable.

Restricting screens closes a door. Reviving a national commitment to play opens one. If we only do the first, we should not be surprised when children simply look for the first workaround back to a screen.

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Dr Charlotte Armitage is a child psychologist, former sports coach, and author of Generation Zombie: ‘Why devices are harming our children'.

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