Open up school playgrounds so kids can play before, after school & weekends

Make school playgrounds (Maple, SASM, Lime Tree, Christ Church, etc.) publicly accessible outside of school hours.

Allowing playgrounds to be used by children before and after school, and during the weekend would improve the quality of life for all families who live in Surbiton. For many families, the closest and most convenient place for their children to play is their local school. We complain that kids spend too much time on their devices and that there is a rising child obesity problem - but we also restrict their ability to play together by shutting down school playgrounds.

Schools restrict access because they are worried about lawsuits, vandalism, and pedophiles. All of these concerns can be managed. There is a tremendous social and community benefit that could come from opening up the school playground - if we decided it was a priority.

Allowing kids to play and families to gather, especially when the weather improves, could turn schools into helpful social hubs. In Toronto, where I grew up, families would come to the school grounds after dinner and play football, kickball, or race their bikes on school grounds. Parents would chat with each other (sometimes with a drink in hand!). On the weekends, parents would let their toddlers play on the swings. In some schools, the local baseball team used the fields for their games - school grounds were seen as public space to be shared and taken care of by the community. These were all spontaneous gatherings that would just happen...

None of this requires more money - just a reimagining of how to use our public spaces more imaginatively and generously.