The child's right to play in a digital world: what does this mean and how can we realise it?

UNCRC (Article 31) requires that “States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” (UNCRC, 1989, Article 31). Further, General Comment 17 explicitly calls governments’ attention to the qualities of play – creativity, imagination, experimentation, enjoyment, spontaneity, emotional balance and more. Governments must support play’s vital role in learning, social interaction, cognitive and physical development, self-efficacy, and fullest development for all children without discrimination or exclusion (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2013b; 2021).