By Dr Charlotte Armitage

For years I have listened to parents who have all said the same thing.

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Their children are glued to a screen, resistant to going outside and struggling to entertain themselves without a device.

As a child psychologist and former sports coach, I have watched this play out in clinics, in schools, in sports and in my own research, and it has convinced me of something that the government's welcome new social media ban for under-16s does not yet fully grasp.

Taking phones and screens away from children is only half the job. We also have to give them something to do instead.

August 5th marked National Playday, the UK's 39th annual celebration of children's right to play, and this year it is being championed by Play Their Way, the campaign pushing for children's play to be treated as a national priority.

It arrives at a genuinely hopeful moment. The government's plan to restrict social media for under-16s, expected to become law in spring 2027, is the boldest attempt yet to loosen the grip phones and screens have on childhood.

But new research released on Playday by Play Their Way and UK Coaching, conducted by........

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