School summer holidays are so often viewed as a problem where ‘learning loss’ occurs.
Year after year, we see the media coverage of school holidays that is concerned with ‘learning loss’ and the impact on educational progress. It can be tricky for families to navigate the long summer break, but it’s also a time where children can learn how to have agency over their own free time – an important skill for life.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’s Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) states:
Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
In the 2023 paper, Rethinking children’s right to leisure during school holidays, authors Stephanie Chambers, Susie Smillie and Nicholas Watson argue for a child-centred approach to holidays, recognising children’s fundamental right to leisure during this time.
Upholding the right to leisure
In the paper, the authors note that children’s rights to leisure are frequently overlooked by educational research and policy which diminish the importance of their own time and seek to commandeer it to continue to work towards future study and exam results. The focus is always on ‘learning loss’ without taking account of what children themselves think about and do during the holidays.
The paper argues that this approach means children are not given the agency to own their own time and it maintains the pattern of adults controlling their schedule as they do when in school. Moreover, there is seemingly little research on how children themselves regard this period away from school and its effects on their wellbeing. Some studies have noted that wellbeing worsens during the holidays for 7-14 year olds, but this paper warns that such losses could actually be ‘measuring the response to restarting school.’.
Inequalities and policy responses
The paper acknowledges the real socio-economic inequalities: holiday childcare is costly, access to enrichment activities is uneven and food insecurity can worsen when free school meals are unavailable.
It also refers to different UK government summer initiatives that provide free meals and structured activities for disadvantaged children. However, it notes that their effectiveness is limited – and, astonishingly, when these programmes are being designed, children are rarely consulted about the activities they might like to do.
Downtime has value
The paper urges a rethink that recognises children as active citizens in the present, rather than just as ‘future adults’, and that all forms of leisure: structured (camps, classes), family-based (trips, shared time) and casual (unstructured play, boredom, screen time) have value. It also recognises that casual leisure, which is so often dismissed as unproductive, can inspire children, leading them to be more autonomous, creative and social.
Let’s hear what children say
The takeaway from the paper is the call for more research that combines quantitative data with qualitative insights from children themselves. This way, policymakers stand a better chance of creating holiday provision that hits the spot, where children can relax, have fun and gain something real from it, rather than it being an extension of school.
Read the Rethinking children’s right to leisure during school holidays paper here
