Abstract
In its COVID-19 Statement of April 2020, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that States Parties explore alternative and creative solutions for children to enjoy their rights to rest, leisure, recreation, and cultural and artistic activities – rights, which along with the right to play, are encompassed in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This paper reflects on play in times of crisis, giving particular focus to the experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three narratives of play and crisis are introduced – play in crisis; the threat to play in times of crisis; and play as a remedy to crisis. Progressive responses to support play during COVID-19 are appraised. Against a backdrop of innovation and a stimulus to research in play, concerns persist that children’s right to play is not foregrounded, and that the ‘everydayness of play’ is not adequately facilitated.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1369-1388 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | The International Journal of Human Rights |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 9-10 |
| Early online date | 6 Apr 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Keywords
- Article 31
- Children’s play
- children’s rights
- COVID-19
- UNCRC
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Law
Documents and Links
- Casey, T. & McKendrick, J. H. (2022) Playing through crisis: lessons from COVID-19 on play as a fundamental right of the child
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.