The Guardian view on support for youth: someone in government should grab hold of school sports | Editorial

With remarkably poor timing, days before closing a consultation on children’s social media use, the government announced last week that it is cutting an annual £320m sports premium for primary schools in England. A new scheme worth £193m will cover secondaries too, and resurrect a previous model whereby outside clubs and coaches play a bigger role. But primary school leaders are understandably unhappy, particularly about the haste with which this is being done.

Bodies including Sport England are more supportive, unsurprisingly since their role is set to grow. There will be advantages, particularly for older pupils who do not already participate in a busy round of extracurricular activities, in having the chance to make links with outside teams or clubs. But the reduction in dedicated funding for primary-school sports seems wrong-headed at a time when childhood obesity is viewed by experts as one of biggest public health challenges facing the country, and concerns about the mental and physical impacts of screen use are sky-high.

Some measures to address this are already in place. New guidance recommending that children under two should not use screens at all, except for joint activities with adults, was unexpectedly strong. Further restrictions on what older children can do online are expected soon, with a complete ban on under-16s using social media – following similar legislation in Australia – one of the options. Others include tighter regulation of personalised algorithms and limits on “addictive” features that are designed to keep people online for longer, including infinite scroll and autoplay.

Mo Farah. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

Bridget Phillipson has her hands full with special educational needs reform, not to mention her other job overseeing equality law. But she and her colleagues must ensure that children’s sport does not suffer as a result of not belonging clearly enough to her or to any other cabinet minister. The sports minister, Steph Peacock, is in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which is used to promoting the role of civil society groups such as sports charities, but much less involved in schools. Earlier this year the Department of Health and Social Care rowed with Ms Phillipson’s team over proposals to axe its £60m yearly contribution to PE funding (the cut was reversed, after protests from athletes including Mo Farah).

Last year’s curriculum review recommended only modest changes to PE teaching, which was in keeping with its overall philosophy of avoiding upheaval and heavier workloads. It talked about the need to ensure that sport is inclusive, and noted that the number of activities covered can mean that pupils gain mastery in none (hockey one week, basketball the next, and so on). This was not a template for an overhaul. But it did highlight the role of PE in promoting wellbeing as well as competition. And this is a crucial point at a time when concern about young people’s mental health, and the rise in conditions including anxiety, has never been more acute. An upcoming report from Alan Milburn about the 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds who are neither in jobs or education is expected to demand a reset, and to criticise the amount of time young people spend alone in their rooms.

Athletics, netball and dance are not for everyone. But the benefits of physical activity are. Ministers should stop squabbling and get a grip on school sports. Cutting funding amid mounting efforts to get children away from screens is a government own goal.

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