18
Jun
2026
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International Day of Play: promoting children’s right to play (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, a child who plays does not waste time, but builds his future. What future do we build with a generation that moves an avatar more than its own body? Can we talk about health and education if we forget the need for movement? Playing means learning the world with your whole body, not just through a screen. Children need live play, physics, kinetics, they need safe parks, open schoolyards, fields, bicycles and especially real time for play, not educational applications, not passive entertainment captured by algorithms. Europe is flooded with toys and products that reach children through online platforms that say they only mediate. But when a toy is toxic, fragile or dangerous, the child is not a logistical problem, it is a responsibility and it is our responsibility.