I remember fondly a
joy-filled childhood in which we came home from school, gobbled down
a snack and ran out to play until dark. We made up games, taught
each other to roller skate and ride bicycles, ran and jumped,
climbed and fell, fought and negotiated, and generally had lots of
fun without adults telling us what to do.
In playgrounds, we
climbed high slides, going up the ladder and the slide itself;
soared on swings; swung from monkey bars; and seesawed, carefully
balancing weight by moving up or down on the seat.
Play has taken on
new forms in these “modern” times. Adults hover over preschoolers,
“helping” them play nicely and preventing them from hurting
themselves or others. For first graders and beyond, if they have any
free time at all, most playgrounds have become so safe as to be
utterly boring.
Unfettered playtime
is more and more consumed, in school and at home, by academic
programs, electronic media and games, and adult-organized activities
at the expense of children’s physical, emotional and social
development, say experts on play and its role in child development.
Schools are
eliminating recess and physical education to cram in lessons on
reading and math to meet nationally prescribed academic standards.
Overprogrammed children are under stress to perform, perform,
perform, with few or no outlets for that stress. Many children who
lack adult supervision at home are stuck “safely” indoors after
school.
“From a child
development perspective, children need access to an environment that
allows them to play out what is natural to them — physical,
dramatic, constructive and spontaneous games,” Joe L. Frost, an
emeritus professor of education at the University of Texas who is an
expert on play and playgrounds around the world, said in an
interview. “But in our high-tech society, children go indoors right
after school and eat junk food and play video games.”
No wonder this
nation is suffering from an epidemic of childhood depression and
obesity.
The Value of
Play
A report in the
journal Pediatrics in January by Dr. Kenneth R. Ginsburg and two
committees of the American Academy of Pediatrics summed up the
importance of free play to a child’s development. It made these
points:
Play allows
children to use their creativity while developing their imagination,
dexterity, and physical, cognitive and emotional strength.
Play is important
to brain development.
Play allows
children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering
their fears while practicing adult roles.
Play helps children
develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the
resiliency they will need to face challenges.
Undirected play
allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to
negotiate and to resolve conflicts.
Some play must
remain child-driven, with parents either not present or as passive
observers.
When play is
child-driven, children practice decision-making, move at their own
pace, discover their own areas of interest and ultimately engage
fully in the passions they wish to pursue.
When play is
controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns
and lose some benefits of play, particularly in developing
creativity, leadership and group skills.
In contrast to
passive entertainment, play builds active, healthy bodies.
Above all, play is
a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood.
Allowing
Reasonable Risks
Franklin Stone, a
lawyer, community activist and former director of the nonprofit
public policy group Common Good, is concerned about the effects that
litigation is having on children’s access to free play.
“For fear of
lawsuits, we’ve created a bubble-wrapped society,” Ms. Stone said.
“Fear of litigation has resulted in the ‘dumbing down’ of
playgrounds and the closing of sledding hills and hiking trails.
We’ve made playgrounds immensely safe for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds,
but they’re boring for 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds, who are on the
streets with their skateboards.
“New playgrounds
today have only bucket swings for babies, no monkey bars or high
slides or seesaws,” Ms. Stone added. “Yet children are much more
likely to be injured from almost everything else — from beds, pots
and pans, TVs, organized sports — than they are in a playground.
“We need to
re-evaluate safety guidelines to see if we’ve gone too far. And we
need to consider legal protection for those who offer opportunities
for play — the schools, churches and community organizations who are
now afraid of being sued if a child gets hurt.”
Children have to
learn to take reasonable physical and social risks if they are to
become the confident grown-ups parents want them to be. If children
are constantly being told not to do things because it’s too
dangerous or they might get hurt, parents are teaching them that
they are weak, Ms. Stone said.
Last year my
grandson, who was 5, broke his arm when he fell from a climbing
structure in the schoolyard. As soon as his arm healed, he was back
climbing, even standing on the top of the structure. I remembered
when his father (my son) was just a year or two older and fell out
of a tree, scraped his chest and said not a word to his parents. The
next day, he was back in the tree.
Susan G. Solomon,
author of “American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space,”
said: “Children need a chance to take acceptable risks, learn cause
and effect, make choices and see consequences. If they don’t learn
to take risks, we’ll lose a generation of entrepreneurs and
scientists.”
New vs. Old
Ideas
A recent proposal
to create playgrounds in New York City that offer sand and water and
various portable objects that are overseen by a trained play worker
revives a concept that prevailed here in the 1920s and is still
practiced in Europe. But it has drawn some devastating criticism
from parents and others who say children don’t need adults
“directing” their play.
Rhonda L. Clements,
a professor of education at Manhattanville College in Purchase,
N.Y., and the author of nine books on children’s play, called it an
exciting and much-needed concept.
The idea, she said,
has been misunderstood. Play workers don’t tell children how to
play. Rather, they provide the equipment for imaginative play that
gives children of different ages, ethnic backgrounds and skill
levels a chance to interact with and learn from one another, unlike
traditional playgrounds that are more isolating.
Also crucial,
the authors of the Pediatrics report wrote, is more parent-child
playtime. Some of the best interactions occur when parents work on a
hobby or play sports with their children or become fully immersed in
child-centered play.
The results can be
surprising. In addition to having fun, my grandsons, now in first
grade, have learned how to multiply and divide by playing Monopoly
with their father.
