Children frustrated by lack of play areas in North, says Commissioner

Difficulty finding somewhere to play is the biggest source of frustration for young people in the North, the Children’s Commissioner said today.

A lack of parks and other leisure facilities was the issue highlighted most frequently in a major consultation with the younger generation undertaken by Patricia Lewsley and her team.

Having their voice heard and being able to influence government policies that effect them was the second key priority identified by the 1,500 young people who participated in the study.

Ms Lewsley outlined the main findings of the exercise to a Stormont committee ahead of the launch of the Commission’s new three-year strategy on Friday.

The commissioner told members of the First and Deputy First Ministers’ scrutiny committee that the consultation had helped her single out the main areas requiring action in the coming years.

“Last year we did a huge piece of research and consultation with many young people,” she said.

“There were 1,500 children and young people and 500 adults (that participated) and as a result of that we decided on five core priorities.

“The biggest issue for children and young people in Northern Ireland is ’play and leisure and things to do’, the second priority is ’having your say’ – young people want a voice and a voice that’s reflected in decisions that are made about them on a daily basis.

“The third one is ’mental health and wellbeing’, the fourth one is ’protection’ and the last one is ’equal treatment’.”

Ms Lewsley is currently trying to determine what facilities are on offer in each of the North’s 26 council areas before identifying areas where more needs to be provided.

She told the committee it was not just about parks for young children but also facilities for teenagers to enjoy. She highlighted a successful project in Enniskillen that has been set up to give young people waiting for late buses home from school somewhere to socialise.

“I think it’s important we don’t just look at parks and parks in isolation,” she said.

“Some of our older young people don’t want parks, they don’t see that as part of their leisure time, it’s about looking at some of the other innovative projects.”

In regard to the issue of protection, children said the issue of most concern to them was child abuse. Ms Lewsley said the definition of abuse was wide, ranging from sexual abuse to bullying in school.