"Kids At Play" funding threatened, should anyone care?

Well you know I’d like free beer and would voice my strong support for any such programs myself.

Also my flat is a bit messy. Do you think the government could send someone round to clean it up for me?

Our after school care uses them. I think it’s great, and should be funded. We are in the middle of a childhood obesity epidemic. Kids such as mine (who have to go to child care after school) don’t get to come home until it is too late to go outside and play.

It’s good that my child has her afternoon tea, then goes outside and plays basketball or does something stimulating rather than sitting in front of a tv. As a parent, I can make sure she’s active on the weekends, but not after school.

NowUC had a story about Kids at Play last year (but their last year’s database appears to have disappeared otherwise I’d point y’all at it). As paperboy said, they had two vans fully equiped with all kinds of balls, bean bags, hoops, makeshift goals, witches hats and so on — all things needed for running kids sport activities. The premise was they’d drive around to schools and parks and events (saw them at the Australia Day stuff in Commonwealth Park) and put the equipment out and kind of organise games and stuff for kids to do. I think it was intended that there not be heaps of direction, unlike a sports lesson at school, but say if some kids decide they want to play soccer then the Kids at Play people set up a soccer game. The idea was just to get children moving but make it fun (ie calling it play not sport).

It’s a sad indictment of our times jb, but if the Government doesn’t do it, no-one else will. I agree with Seepi, rightly or wrongly, many parents today are busy working all sorts of long hours to pay the mortgage and just survive in this very expensive city. Many simply don’t have the time to take their kids to the park for some exercise. And even if they did most don’t have enough equipment to keep the kids entertained for an hour or so. I say well done to the ACT Government for doing something to help kids have some fun, give their parents a bit of a break, as well as help with the associated problem of Childhood obesity.
What angers me though, is that this threat of closure would have happened of ACT Sport and Recreation not become greedy and decided to empire-build. They had two fully equipped vans and decided, not just to expand the program, but to double it in one hit…Guess what… the money ran out and now the whole program is in jeopardy. Hopefully commonsense will prevail, those responsible for blowing the budget will get an arse-kicking, and the program will survive in its original form.

I’m not saying it’s not great seepi, i have no opinion on that.

so children’s playtime joins digital TV as a right to be bestowed by government?

this is supposed to be great – I’ve had great reports. Kids can paint, act, and do longs of group games. It is for little kids – under 5s.
Times have changed – families all living in one street don’t get together to do this type of thing anymore. More people work, and the streets are more dangerous. I’d support keeping this program going. How much can it cost anyway?