Kids like to play right ? It's always been something that kids have done, and it has always been one of the things that kids love to do more than anything. Right? For anyone who works with kids, or has kids, or cares about kids, you may want to be concerned. The reason I say this is because there is a huge crisis facing our children today, and I have seen the crisis for myself. Kids are facing a play deficit. Kids are not playing as much as they did in the past. They are only playing a fraction of what kids did a generation or 2 ago.
Play is the most important thing for a child. Play has even been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. Play is so important for children because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children. Today's children are spending hours and hours indoors, in schools, in their homes, and in the buildings doing organized extracurricular activities. If kids are outside, they are mostly doing some kind of structured outdoor activity that has been organized and directed by adults. When kids are not doing organized activities, they are in front of screen, iPhones, iPads, tablets, a TV, video games, and computers. Kids used to spend hours and hours a week playing outside with friends in parks and in their neighborhoods. Kids rode bikes, played jump rope, played ball, ran around chasing each other, climbed trees, and most importantly kids made up their own outdoor fun. This is what used to drive childhood. What happened ? A play deficit hit.
Play is the most important thing for a child. Play has even been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. Play is so important for children because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children. Today's children are spending hours and hours indoors, in schools, in their homes, and in the buildings doing organized extracurricular activities. If kids are outside, they are mostly doing some kind of structured outdoor activity that has been organized and directed by adults. When kids are not doing organized activities, they are in front of screen, iPhones, iPads, tablets, a TV, video games, and computers. Kids used to spend hours and hours a week playing outside with friends in parks and in their neighborhoods. Kids rode bikes, played jump rope, played ball, ran around chasing each other, climbed trees, and most importantly kids made up their own outdoor fun. This is what used to drive childhood. What happened ? A play deficit hit.
Just look around today and think deeply about children playing, you'll realize that children really aren't playing like they used to. Fewer and fewer children are playing in neighborhoods anymore after school, on weekends, during the summer, or during school days out. Children have fewer opportunities to have free and unstructured play outside during any of their days; even recess has been cut back at many schools, taking away children's free time to play. Psychologist Peter Gray of Boston College has used the term play deficit to describe the situation at hand. Play deficit is happening all around the world, even in the US, and it's a sad thing to realize. So how is it possible that this crisis is happening, and why are kids not going outside anymore ??? Children's free play time over the years has been replaced by structured activities and screen time.
Children spend more time today involved in structured activities than ever before. Many have cited parent competition as one thing to blame. Parents today are more competitive than ever before, enrolling their children in more and more structured activities, hoping to get their children further ahead, but all while doing it, they are depriving children from necessary healthy free play, which is an important part of child development. Children are involved in lessons, enrichment clubs, summer camps, structured after school programs, and organized sports. Some children are so over scheduled that they never have the time to just be kids and play. Before you know it these children's childhoods will flash before them, and all they will have to look back on is a hurried lifestyle with one structured thing after the next. During available free time some kids are at tae kwan do, baseball practice, swimming, art, or dance.
I like one of the quotes that came from a journalist in the Globe and Mail. She says even "children of the upper middle class are busy, busy, busy, with schedules that rival that of any CEO". This goes to show that no matter what a child's socioeconomic status is, children of all backgrounds are facing the same crisis. Parents really do try to micromanage their kids today more than any generation. Parents start thinking about college for their kids before they are even born, and then when their kids are born, it's go, go, go. Some parents worry that if they don't structure their kids completely or enough that their kids will fall behind in life and in school, but quite the opposite is true. Researchers are warning too much may not be good for kids.
I like one of the quotes that came from a journalist in the Globe and Mail. She says even "children of the upper middle class are busy, busy, busy, with schedules that rival that of any CEO". This goes to show that no matter what a child's socioeconomic status is, children of all backgrounds are facing the same crisis. Parents really do try to micromanage their kids today more than any generation. Parents start thinking about college for their kids before they are even born, and then when their kids are born, it's go, go, go. Some parents worry that if they don't structure their kids completely or enough that their kids will fall behind in life and in school, but quite the opposite is true. Researchers are warning too much may not be good for kids.
Free play helps children in brain development. Children when allowed to play freely develop social skills that are necessary for life, including problem solving, decision making, creating and following rules, and getting along with others. It's during play that children develop their executive function, which is a set of cognitive skills that include organization, long term planning, self regulation, task initiation, and the ability to switch between activities. Children today don't have as strong of executive function as children did before them because of a lack of play in their lives. Research has also shown that children who play more outdoors in an unstructured environment are healthier and do better in school. They also have a better attention span, especially when compared to children who spend lots of time in front of screens. I have included information about screen time and how it has affected play with children in my kids and technology tab.
It's very important that we begin focusing on this issue, as it is very serious. Just Google kids and unstructured play, or kids and outdoor play, or kids outdoor playtime today, and see what comes up. You'll see many of the research reports out there that I have seen that show our kids are facing a crisis today, the crisis of a play deficit. It's present all over. Technology, over scheduled kids, and a lack of time set aside for child free play have resulted in this saddening problem.
I have even seen this problem with kids that I work with. With kids that I have worked with lately, it has gotten to the point where kids don't want to play outside anymore. They'd rather be inside today, compared to kids a generation or 2 ago, who wanted to be outside all the time. Parents and adults sometimes don't value children's play time outdoors enough, so kids have gotten to the point where they have been sucked into this cycle of not wanting to go outside. It's almost as if kids have been taught that going outside to play is meaningless. Children get over programmed and given access to too much technology, which has resulted in kids not wanting to play, which has created this play deficit crisis. Child obesity, child depression, and ADHD are all up. From research studies, a decrease in outdoor playtime has been seen to a correlate very well to these problems.
It's very important that we begin focusing on this issue, as it is very serious. Just Google kids and unstructured play, or kids and outdoor play, or kids outdoor playtime today, and see what comes up. You'll see many of the research reports out there that I have seen that show our kids are facing a crisis today, the crisis of a play deficit. It's present all over. Technology, over scheduled kids, and a lack of time set aside for child free play have resulted in this saddening problem.
I have even seen this problem with kids that I work with. With kids that I have worked with lately, it has gotten to the point where kids don't want to play outside anymore. They'd rather be inside today, compared to kids a generation or 2 ago, who wanted to be outside all the time. Parents and adults sometimes don't value children's play time outdoors enough, so kids have gotten to the point where they have been sucked into this cycle of not wanting to go outside. It's almost as if kids have been taught that going outside to play is meaningless. Children get over programmed and given access to too much technology, which has resulted in kids not wanting to play, which has created this play deficit crisis. Child obesity, child depression, and ADHD are all up. From research studies, a decrease in outdoor playtime has been seen to a correlate very well to these problems.
Did you know according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids today are 6 times more likely to play video games than to ride a bike ? Did you know that 23 percent of children ages 9-13 play organized baseball, and yet only 6 percent play on their own, according to a CDC report ? Did you know that bike riding is down 31 percent since 1995 ? Did you know that the child obesity rate was 4 percent in the 1960's, and today 16 percent are overweight ? Did you know that on average American kids today spend 4-7 minutes a day engaged in outdoor play ?
Both common sense and research can tell you that outdoor unstructured play is a necessity for child development. Let's once and for all put an end to this crisis. I'd like to close my discussion here by leaving you with a few videos that are very, very good for seeing Play Deficit through the eyes of children and experts.
The PLAY Revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85noJ8km7SI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BPz_QAqSAU
Play Deficit from Dr. Peter Gray of Boston College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk
Both common sense and research can tell you that outdoor unstructured play is a necessity for child development. Let's once and for all put an end to this crisis. I'd like to close my discussion here by leaving you with a few videos that are very, very good for seeing Play Deficit through the eyes of children and experts.
The PLAY Revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85noJ8km7SI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BPz_QAqSAU
Play Deficit from Dr. Peter Gray of Boston College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk