Can my kids go to the park or not?

[NeedANewJob19]

I have name changed for this and prepared to be flamed.

My teenage DSs (13 and 16) have been going to the park near our house for one hour each day this week. They go together, they don’t meet up with anyone and they avoid other people using the park. They don’t go to the playground part, they just take a football and have a kick around together just the two of them. I was under the impression that this was ok.
Someone on my Facebook posted a picture yesterday if a group of kids at the same park and I could see my two in the background of the photo. No where near the kids featured just way in the background. This person wouldn’t know my kids. Everyone was commenting about how irresponsible this was and berating the parents, I daren’t comment on it but wanted to check opinions on here. I was assuming they were so angry because it was group of kids presumably not from the same household but now I’m not sure I should be letting my kids do what they’ve been doing

OP, if every parent in the vicinity of the park said the same thing, and sent their children out to play football in the park, it would be packed out. Just like the sights we saw last weekend when parks and beaches and beauty spots were flooded with people supposedly self isolating.
The rule is for the greater good.
Please don't let them do this, send them for a run.

Surely the walk/run/cycle is permitted because you keep moving and there is no obvious want for others to join in?
Football will encourage others to join in, or if others see your DC playing, they will decide that they can too, and before you know it there will be loads of games going side by side, that might then merge into one.
Football is a social exercise. We are trying to avoid social interaction.
They can run instead.
People bending the rules will lead to more severe measures.

'OP, if every parent in the vicinity of the park said the same thing, and sent their children out to play football in the park, it would be packed out'

'send them for a run.'

And if every parent in the vicinity of the park did this it would be packed out but with runners instead of footballers!

Use your common sense! Good grief.

Use the spare space. It doesn't matter which sport you're doing in that space! It's the space and the isolation that's the issue not the bloody sport you choose.

There is nothing in the law that says your exercise has to be walking running or cycling. A kickabout is within the law providing they aren’t meeting up with other people and carries no more risk of spreading the virus than a run or walk does. They just need to stay away from others.

Ummm I thought the run/walk/cycle were examples?

I go to our local park and play bat and ball cricket with my DC. It involves lots of sprinting up and down and burns off lots of energy. We go nowhere near other people. We only do it for around 40 mins, then go home.

Why does that not count as one outdoor exercise a day?

It's totally fine.

It's exercise. Keep away from other people, and if there are other people already there.... go somewhere else.

(1) During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a reasonable excuse includes the need—

(a) to obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2;

(b) to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household;

(c) to seek medical assistance, including to access any of the services referred to in paragraph 37 or 38 of Schedule 2;

(d) to provide care or assistance, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(a), to a vulnerable person, or to provide emergency assistance;

(e) to donate blood;

(f) to travel for the purposes of work or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work, or to provide those services, from the place where they are living;

(g) to attend a funeral of—
(i) a member of the person’s household,
(ii) a close family member, or
(iii) if no-one within sub-paragraphs (i) or (ii) are attending, a friend;

(h) to fulfil a legal obligation, including attending court or satisfying bail conditions, or to participate in legal proceedings;

(i) to access critical public services, including— (a) 2006 c. 47. Sub-paragraph (3B) was substituted, with sub-paragraphs (1), (3) and (3A) to (3E) for sub-paragraphs (1) to (3) by s. 66(2) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9). 5
(i) childcare or educational facilities (where these are still available to a child in relation to whom that person is the parent, or has parental responsibility for, or care of the child);
(ii) social services;
(iii) services provided by the Department of Work and Pensions;
(iv) services provided to victims (such as victims of crime);

(j) in relation to children who do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents, to continue existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children, and for the purposes of this paragraph, “parent” includes a person who is not a parent of the child, but who has parental responsibility for, or who has care of, the child;

(k) in the case of a minister of religion or worship leader, to go to their place of worship;

(l) to move house where reasonably necessary;

(m) to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm.

Of course they can! Dont listen to the haters! X

I think it's fine, as long as they stick to social distancing guidelines.

Those saying that exercise is strictly 'run, walk or cycle', so you can't play football, are wrong. The guidelines are '...one form of exercise a day, for example, a run, walk or cycle: alone or with members of your household.' Key words here being 'for example'; it's not a conclusive list.

Restrictions on gatherings

During the emergency period, no person may participate in a gathering in a public place of more than two people except—

(a)where all the persons in the gathering are members of the same household,

(b)where the gathering is essential for work purposes,

(c)to attend a funeral,

(d)where reasonably necessary—
(i)to facilitate a house move,
(ii)to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006,
(iii)to provide emergency assistance, or
(iv)to participate in legal proceedings or fulfil a legal obligation.

I'd say yes, but go with them as well.

Unless guidance has changed, you are allowed out of your home to take exercise during the day.

Some people are being utterly fucking ridiculous. Of course two kids from the same house can kick a ball around! Kids don’t want to just walk. What do people think a ball is going to do?!

If it was me though, I’d go with them and walk the perimeter of the park, just to keep an eye out for any other people approaching them

But you’re not doing anything wrong and they don’t have local friends to meet up with.

Most people on here seem to assume that all teenagers are feral and can't understand the rules. Some obviously are and some parents are completely ineffectual in setting proper rules or supervising their DC.

Mine and many others I know would be perfectly fine doing what your are. You are the one that knows them best and knows what they are likely to do so you need to judge.

And really? No child is allowed to kick a ball with their sibling, behave.

No sorry. You can go for a walk once a day. But having a kick about in the park is not on

I played football with DC1 in the park this morning, is that against the rules then?

Parks will remain open but people are only to go out to exercise once a day

Outside exercise is allowed. However, this can only be done once a day, either on your own, or with the people you live with

for example, to buy food and medicine, or for exercise - and keep 2m (6ft) apart. This is known as social distancing.

From this I will allow my 11 and 20 yr old sons to go together to the park (very large open grass) and kick the football between themselves. We live rurally. Because of the age gap they rarely get any others joining in anyway.

DS2 needs to exercise every day. He comes out on his bike with me some days. Other days he doesn't want to and I am NOT going to make him. If they are not breaking the rules I will absolutely let him kick a ball about at the park.

Football is a social exercise. We are trying to avoid social interaction. They can run instead. People bending the rules will lead to more severe measures.

We aren’t trying to avoid social interaction, we’re trying to practice social distancing. People need to continue to be social - the last thing we need is a bigger mental health crisis on top this. They just need to be social remotely. If the boys are engaging in football on their own, they are being just as responsible as someone going out running (which - I would point out - has become a huge social sport in recent years).

Given when they were caught on camera with an opportunity to join in with a larger group they were seen to still be on their own, the OP has good reason to think they are being responsible.

OP a lot of people on MN seem determined to ensure everyone is as miserable as possible during the lock down. It’s like a puritanical idea that if it’s fun it must be sinful. There is absolutely no difference going for a run or kicking a ball around in terms of spreading the virus. Stopping them doing the fun things that are safe will do nothing to make people safer. It will just make you all more miserable.

@BraceYourselfEffie are you just going to keep copying and pasting swathes of legislation? What's your point?

I've just come from our local park. Their were a 3 kids playing football, the police were strolling through the park too. The police walked right past them and even waved to the little one who said hello.
Common sense people!

To be fair most of the teenagers around here have been incredible, it must be so hard for them.
Our usually packed park has been mostly empty except for the odd "special" family who think because it's empty it's fine for them and their special kids to go and sod everyone else who would love to be using it but are following the rules to save lives.

I CANNOT believe people are STILL doing this!

Zealously over interpreting guidance written in clear english to "quarantine shame" people around fringe behaviour.

It's almost as if half the population are of less than average intelligence and sh1t scared!

#bekind

Its fine, football is exercise.

Reading these bonkers threads is giving me quite a boost at the moment.

Are all the people on here convinced that their interpretation of the rules (ONLY walk, run, or cycle, two brothers kicking a football back and forth to each other is NOT ALLOWED) is correct the same arseholes who insisted their interpretation of whether children of separated parents could be moved between households was correct? Because you were fucking wrong in that case.

OP, tell your sons to be sensible and to stop and move on if the park is getting crowded or they seem to be in someone's way, and to be polite and accommodating to any police officer who asks them to stop. Otherwise I can't see how this is any more dangerous than someone going for an hour's run.

I think it is perfectly fine op, people are losing perspective when it comes to exercise. Walking, running and cycling are guidelines and not the only form of exercise that allows for social distancing.
Someone could decide to do yoga in the middle of a park and it would still be appropriate excercise/allowable fresh air, and perfectly acceptable if they decided to do it with someone who lives in their household. Ignore the fun police.