World Play Day was presented today, Monday 27, at Palazzo Zanca, which is celebrated every year on 28 May, as established by the UN, to affirm the right to play for girls and boys, but not only. This year, the Day was also organized in Messina, following input from the Guarantor of Children’s Rights And of adolescence in the Municipality of Messina, through the preparation of a program of activities carried out in synergy with the municipal Administration through the Departments of Youth Policies and Relations with the Municipalities, with the Messina Social City, the six Municipalities and the Superintendent of Studies of Messina with the heads of the city’s schools.
The meeting with journalists, attended by the mayor Federico Basile, was attended by councilor Liana Cannata with councilor Massimiliano Minutoli, the president of Messina Social City Valeria Asquini; the Guarantor Giovanni Amante; for the Municipalities the presidents of the I, III and V respectively, Alessandro Costa, Alessandro Cacciotto and Raffaele Verso were present; the teacher Giusi Ioculano participated on behalf of the superintendent Stello Vadalà; for the Istituto Comprensivo La Pira – Gentiluomo the delegate of the manager Luisa Lo Manto, Daniela Bruno and member of the Board of Directors of the Messina Social City; Don Gabriele Cardaciottto of the Salesian oratory of Giostra; and Francesco Giorgio, CONI trustee and CIP delegate.
At the opening of the meeting, councilor Cannata was keen to underline that tomorrow’s event, Tuesday 28th, is the result of a synergy of intent which involved the subjects present here to promote the right to play and free time only for girls and boys who will be engaged in play and recreational activities, “but the objective is also aimed at adults in order to place emphasis on the urban spaces of the city – said Cannata – through the presidents of the Municipalities in synergy with the school directors in order to identify the school complexes or rather a space in the individual local realities in our villages to promote that sense of belonging and community through play”. “The six Municipalities were the first step in the process of involvement in the initiative – Councilor Minutoli echoed – which signifies their important role in the context of our administrative action to implement the principle of decentralization and the possibility of experiencing the spaces of the entire municipal territory”. “The event dedicated to Game Day is an important occasion in the context of our activities, which in this case sees the involvement of the associations that collaborate within the Way – Welfare Activity for Young project, created precisely to create a multidisciplinary network for the purpose to make everyone protagonists, in the context of the six Municipalities, where the creation of spaces is planned to be able to carry out inclusive activities and among these certainly those dedicated to games and recreational activities with a strong educational power”, added President Asquini.
“The objective of the Day established on May 28, 1998 to give playtime back to kids – explained the Guarantor – is to offer them an afternoon dedicated to gaming with the particularity that it will be extended throughout the entire municipal territory. For organizational reasons, the school managers have chosen a significant complex for each district without wanting to favor one school or the other, since the aspect we want to highlight in addition to sociality and aggregation is to encourage the carrying out of these activities giving the children the opportunity to participate directly in their places of belonging without the need to travel to other places. The hope – concluded Father Amante – is to start with this first edition which will symbolically take place in conjunction with the global anniversary, but our desire is to continue over time to offer the best Messina of tomorrow, suitable for children, of man and family where the culture of legality, aggregation and an increasingly inclusive city community can prevail”. The three presidents of the Municipalities highlighted in unison the educational value of the event, underlining the importance of the synergy between the central and peripheral administration and the school world to promote play spaces and recreational activities which also become educational spaces capable of bridging the gap of social hardship in some urban contexts; as well as being important pieces that demonstrate the closeness and will of the administration to guarantee the social well-being and healthy growth of children by recovering and rediscovering spaces in individual territories. The point of view of the scholastic world was treated by Ioculano teacher which underlined the importance of the right to play for children which “as well as being an instrument for their healthy growth, thanks to the support of the individual municipalities it is intended to mend the relationship between the children and their own territory as well as extend it to as many people as possible.” Also Don Gabriele for the Salesian oratory of Giostra and the Bruno for the Istituto Comprensivo La Pira – Gentiluomo expressed words of appreciation for the initiative as play spaces become essential elements of educational spaces as play helps children to socialize, as well as stimulating and increasing inclusion to make them feel an integral part of a group. The CONI trustee George instead, they ensured that their projects will be made available to the school opening programme, guaranteeing the presence of technicians to support the activities that will be carried out.
The conclusions were drawn by mayor Basile highlighting that “this day must not be exclusively remembered on May 28th of each year, but it is essential that it is active for the entire 365 days, since – said Basile – it focuses on important elements that support and encourage growth of young people on whom the vision of this administration revolves through that, already underway, synergistic programming with city schools and municipalities to encourage the use of urban spaces with the possibility of opening schools beyond normal school hours to encourage aggregation and give our kids the opportunity to discover their home territory.”
PLAN
The event will take place tomorrow, Tuesday 28 May from 4pm to 7.30pm, with a calendar of activities that will be carried out in the schools of Giampilieri Superiore – Simone Neri complex; Catalfamo – Santa Lucia sopra Contesse complex; school and CSE of Camaro (next to the 3rd District Headquarters – La Pira School); in the Casa Pia square and the field behind it; at the S. Matteo Giostra oratory (Salesians); and in the Evemero da Messina school (Ganzirri).
