𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Top sports stars have united to call for every child to have the right to play sport, as part of a campaign to get children off their phones and out of their bedrooms. Seb Coe, Kelly Holmes and Tim Henman are among those backing a campaign led by think tank the Centre for Social Justice, which is urging the Prime Minister to guarantee every pupil at least five hours of extracurricular activities each week.

At least two hours should involve sport or physical activity, the think tank said. The “fewer screens more sport” initiative is also backed by former football manager Harry Redknapp, GB Hockey player Tess Howard, former footballer and pundit Jamie Redknapp, Peep Show actress Lady Sophie Windsor, Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, Paralympic cycling champion Lizzi Jordan, and former footballer Les Ferdinand.

The intervention comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham declared himself “massive on school sport”, criticised its “dismantling” by previous governments, and said expanding sport and the arts in schools would be “a feature of my time” in office.

Declining access to sport and the rise of screen time have contributed to a “bedroom generation” of increasingly isolated, inactive and unhappy teenagers, according to a new report.

New polling for the study, called Inactive Nation: Getting England’s Teenagers Moving, found that almost two in five 15-year-olds – 37%, equivalent to more than a quarter of a million teenagers in England – hardly ever leave their bedrooms except to attend school.

Nearly one in four spend at least six waking hours in their bedroom on a normal weekend day, while nearly one in five spend no evenings out with friends during a typical week – a rise of almost 50% since 2002.

The decline in teenagers’ social lives has coincided with a collapse in physical activity. There are now nearly 100,000 more completely inactive 11 to 16-year-olds than in 2018–19, while a 2025 survey found that one in 10 secondary school girls does no physical activity whatsoever.

Yet the new polling found considerable appetite for more opportunities to get active. Two-thirds of 15-year-olds said they would take part in more sport or physical activity if their schools offered a wider choice.

Lord Coe, Olympic gold medallist and president of World Athletics, said: “I experienced the transformative power of sport as a teenager and it changed my life. Today’s young people need it more than ever.

“We must be bold enough to rebuild those opportunities. The report sets out a package of reforms to help young people move ‘from alone to active’, rebuilding the pathways into community activities and real-life social interactions that too many teenagers currently lack.”

Dame Kelly, Olympic gold medalist, said: “My PE teacher was the first person who showed me I could be really good at something, and that changed everything for me. Every child needs a hero who sees what they’re capable of. Sport can give teenagers so much, whether that’s confidence, teamwork or resilience.”

Henman, the British tennis champion, said: “This timely Centre for Social Justice report is a reminder that access to sport and physical activity for young people cannot be taken for granted.

“I have been fortunate to experience the transformative power of tennis first-hand, but I believe all young people should experience the benefits of being active.”