are leading, in some parts of the world, to increasing levels of monitoring and surveillance, with consequent constraints on their freedom to play and opportunities for recreation. In addition, children themselves can pose a threat to other children in their play and recreational activities – for example, bullying, abuse of younger children by older children and group pressure to engage in high risktaking. While children must not be exposed to harm in the realization of their rights under article 31, some degree of risk and challenge is integral to play and recreational activities and is a necessary component of the benefits of these activities. A balance is needed between, on the one hand, taking action to reduce unacceptable hazards in children’s environment, such as closing local streets to traffic, improving street lighting or creating safe boundaries for school playgrounds, and on the other hand, informing, equipping and empowering children to take the necessary precautions to enhance their own safety. The best interests of the child and listening to children’s experiences and concerns should be mediating principles for determining the level of risk to which children can be exposed. Lack of access to nature: Children come to understand, appreciate and care for the natural world through exposure, self-directed play and exploration with adults who communicate its wonder and significance. Memories of childhood play and leisure in nature strengthen resources with which to cope with stress, inspire a sense of spiritual wonder and encourage stewardship for the earth. Play in natural settings also contributes towards agility, balance, creativity, social cooperation and concentration. Connection to nature through gardening, harvesting, ceremonies and peaceful contemplation is an important dimension of the arts and heritage of many cultures. In an increasingly urbanized and privatized world, children’s access to parks, gardens, forests, beaches and other natural areas is being erodedm, and children in low-income urban areas are most likely to lack adequate access to green spaces. Pressure for educational achievement: Many children in many parts of the world are being denied their rights under article 31 as a consequence of an emphasis on formal academic success. For example: Early childhood education is increasingly focused on academic targets and formal learning at the expense of participation in play and attainment of broader development outcomes; Extracurricular tuition and homework are intruding on children’s time for freely chosen activities; The curriculum and daily schedule often lack recognition of the necessity of or provision for play, recreation and rest; The use of formal or didactic educational methods in the classroom do not take advantage of opportunities for active playful learning; Contact with nature is decreasing in many schools with children having to spend more time indoors; Opportunities for cultural and artistic activities and the provision of specialist arts educators in school are, in some countries, being eroded in favour of more academic subjects. Restrictions on the type of play in which children can engage in school serve to inhibit their opportunities for creativity, exploration and social development. Overly structured and programmed schedules: For many children, the ability to realize the rights provided for in article 31 is restricted by the imposition of adult-decided activities, including, for example, compulsory sports, rehabilitative activities for children with disabilities or domestic chores, particularly for girls, which allow little or no time for self-directed activities. Where Government investment exists, it tends to focus on organized competitive recreation, or sometimes children are required or pressured to participate in youth organizations not of their own choosing. Children are entitled to time that is not determined or controlled by adults, as well as time in which they are free of any demands – basically to do “nothing, if they so desire. Indeed, the absence of activity can serve as a stimulus to creativity. Narrowly focusing all of a child’s leisure time into programmed or competitive activities can be damaging to his or her physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being. Neglect of a rticle 31 in development programmes: Early childhood care and development work in many countries focuses exclusively on issues of child survival with no attention paid to the conditions that enable children to thrive. Programmes often only deal with nutrition, immunization and preschool education with little or no emphasis on play, recreation, culture and the arts. The personnel running the programmes are not appropriately trained to support these aspects of the child’s development needs. Lack of investment in cultural and artistic opportunities for children: Children’s access to cultural and artistic activities are often restricted by a range of factors, including lack of parental support; cost of access; lack of transport; the adult-centred focus of many exhibitions, plays and events; failure to engage children in the content, design, location and forms of provision. Greater emphasis is needed in the creation of spaces to stimulate creativity. Operators of arts and cultural venues should look beyond their physical spaces to consider how their programmes reflect and respond to the cultural lives of the community they represent. Children’s participation in the arts requires a more child-centred approach which commissions and displays children’s creations and also engages them in the structure and programmes offered. Such engagement during childhood can serve to stimulate cultural interests for life. G rowing role of electronic media: Children in all regions of the world are spending increasing periods of time engaged in play, recreational, cultural and artistic activities, both as consumers and creators, via various digital platforms and media, including watching television, messaging, social networking, gaming, texting, listening to and creating music, watching and making videos and films, creating new art forms, posting images. Information and communication technologies are emerging as a central dimension of children’s daily reality. Today, children move seamlessly between offline and online environments. These platforms offer huge benefits – educationally, socially and culturally – and States are encouraged to take all necessary measures to ensure equality of opportunity for all children to experience those benefits. Access to the Internet and social media is central to the realization of article 31 rights in the globalized environment. However, the Committee is concerned at the growing body of evidence indicating the extent to which these environments, as well as