Nursery World - Under-12s should be allowed to mix outdoors, campaigners say

Play campaigners in England are calling on the Government to allow children under 12 to be exempt from the outdoor meeting rules, citing that the regulations are ‘unfair and discriminatory’.

Campaigners say that the law disciminates against children aged 5-11. Under-5s exempt from two-person Covid rule

Under the ‘one-to-one’ rule in England, adults and older children have been able to meet one friend for exercise outdoors. Under-5s are exempt from the rules but children aged 5 and above, who are too young to go out alone, have effectively been prevented from mixing with anyone outside their household since the third lockdown began in December 2020.

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law, and Playing Out have written to the Prime Minister calling for England’s lockdown guidelines to ‘allow and encourage’ children to play outdoors together, as they return to school.

The group argues that the rules have unfairly discriminated against children, as evidence mounts of the devastating mental and physical toll that lockdown has taken on them, through social isolation and inactivity.

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