Four out of 10 Korean children feel they do not have enough time to play, according to a new survey. While awareness of children's right to play is high, the actual sense that this right is being guaranteed falls short, the analysis showed.
According to the "2025 Child Rights Awareness Survey" released Monday by the Korea Child Rights Guarantee Agency, the overall average awareness of children's rights stipulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was 3.68 out of 4. The survey covered 1,177 children from fourth grade elementary school to second year of high school, and 815 adults including teachers. Awareness of the right to play also scored high at 3.69. In contrast, the overall average for children's experience of having their rights guaranteed stood at just 3.21, with the right to play scoring 3.15, below the overall average.
A lack of time was cited as the biggest reason why children's right to play is not fully guaranteed. Among child respondents, 40.1% pointed to "insufficient time to play" as the factor hindering the right to play. This was followed by "interference from adults" (29.4%), "lack of awareness of the importance of the right to play" (13.9%), "lack of space to play" (6.5%), and "lack of information" (3.8%).
Adult respondents also identified "insufficient time to play" (34.8%) as the biggest hindrance. However, adults ranked "lack of awareness of the importance of the right to play" (25.5%) as the second most common factor, followed by "interference from adults" (19.4%) and "lack of space to play" (12.0%).
Differences in perception between children and adults also emerged regarding the support needed to guarantee the right to play. Children cited "providing time to play" (38.3%) as the most necessary form of support, while adults viewed "improving awareness of the importance of the right to play" (32.5%) as the top priority.
"For children to play freely, adults' permission regarding their daily schedules often takes precedence," the Korea Child Rights Guarantee Agency said. "The results show that children consider conditions directly needed for play to be more important, while adults place greater weight on indirect factors such as improving awareness."
