Hand-wringing over safety and patchy play provision are making kids summer holidays a drag. Children's Express reports on how disappointed young people are with their six weeks off.
| Youve just finished school and you want to get away from it. But they want you to go back to get more education in your holidays. |
For the lucky ones, the summer is a packed and varied schedule. For the last two years Duane OGarro, 14, has attended a Summer Action scheme run by the police in Islington, North London. It only costs 5 and we do go-karting, horse-riding, football, basketball, and go to Chessington World of Adventure. Theres even a disco at the end of it, he says.
But for too many, the holidays represent an unwelcome intermission in the buzz of term time. I look forward to going back to school, says Katherine Faulkner, 12. I usually miss my friends so I dont feel an anti-climax at the end of the summer.
And young people, like adults, know the dangers of there being too little to do. Its so boring just sitting around doing nothing, says Stuart Fletcher, 16. It encourages people to do things they wouldnt normally, like drink.
Local park
According to the University of Newcastles Department of Community Child Health, only 18 per cent of parents allow children to go to the local park or play area alone. Children like Gillian Antwi-Bosiako, 12, are the exception in having the freedom to do their own thing. My mum works from home. If I disturb her she always tells me off, so I keep out of the way. I spend my summer either at my cousins house or in the park. All my friends go to the park and we play my favourite game called taxing. Its when we sit on each other and swing on the ropes from side to side.
When opportunities are targeted at kids, theyre a hit and miss affair. Kierra Box, 13, describes summer breaks as boring because all the available activities are for little kids or older teenagers. She says, Im in the middle bracket so I dont have anything organised. Most of the time, I phone a friend in the morning and spend my time listening to music at their houses or going shopping.
Jasmine Ferguson, 16, who became too old for a play scheme on her estate when she was 12, has failed to find anything to match it for her age group. She says, When I was younger I went to a play scheme. We went canoeing and stuff. It was really good. Its just boring as you get older.
Similarly, Ricky Allen, 12, laments growing out of his old haunt. He complains, A helper at my old school invited me to go to The Friday Club. I used to go a lot but because I dont go to that school anymore, I havent been allowed in. Id really like to go still.
Those facilities that do target teenagers fail to market themselves effectively. Jesse Mears, 13, comments, I never see anything advertised about whats going. They dont put things in the places I go to. Others believe too much emphasis is placed on the educational benefits of schemes and suspect the organisers are appealing to parents rather than their children. Jasmine remarks, Youve just finished school and all you want is to get away from it. But then they want you to go back to get more education in your holidays.
Even where activities are laid on, they can fail to appeal to an ever more demanding generation of children. I used to go to half day events making kites or balloon animals at my church. Now its not very cool, said Katherine. She once attended a summer drama school but even that wasnt ideal: It was a drag and so expensive. It cost 70 and by the end of the summer it had nearly bankrupted us.
Teenagers are often allowed to take their time into their own hands but they only enjoy it when they can draw upon the company of an extended family or a ready supply of funds. Lizzie Kenyon, 15, says: If I was stuck in London for six weeks, I dont know what Id do! There are very few affordable activities, especially if theres more than one child in a family.
Youth provision
Cost is the other main barrier to satisfied customers. Jack Stevens, 18, says, As I get older, entertainment becomes more expensive because Im less likely to stay in. Most young people believe more not less funds need to be ploughed into youth provision as they struggle to find activities they can afford. There are lots of places to go in Islington, but only if youve got money, says Stuart, adding, nowheres free except the parks. Anything that is half decent is either really expensive or not accessible.
Younger children point out that if money were spent on making open spaces safer, less would need to be spent on organised activities. While Paradise Park for example is a favourite among older teenagers in Holloway, its reputation as a trouble spot puts others off. Theres always trouble over there with gangs and old boozers, says Steven Cording, 12. Stuart Fletchers younger brother Chris, 13, says, Ive been beaten up there there are always people saying and doing things. You cant go out really. Isaac Fihosy, 11, has given up trying to go out where he lives, in Stoke Newington. The only safe place at night is my back garden, he says.
The good news is that young people say there is a rich seam of opportunities they just need to be put together more imaginatively. Stuart suggests councils, community groups and local businesses join forces to give projects more street cred. He says, Great companies like Arsenal Football Club should put a bit of money into youth facilities and use their stars to promote them to make young people want to go.
While younger children dont have such a solution to the problem of how to while away the holidays safely and profitably, Gillians final admission shows some young people will do things without their parents knowledge if they have nothing to do. She confesses, I dont tell my mum where Im going unless I need money to go there. If I want to go to the cinema and I have the money, I just tell her Im going to the park."
About the team
This article was produced by editors, Jack Stevens, 18, Stuart Fletcher, 16, Lizzie Kenyon and Kathleen Dawes, 15, and Duane OGarro, 14, and reporters, Kierra Box, Chris Fletcher and Jessie Mears, 13, Katherine Faulkner, Ricky Allen and Benjamina Avro-Owiriwa, 12, Gillian Antwi-Bosiako and Isaac Fihosy, 11, and James Fletcher, 10. It was published in PSLG Magazine.
