My own childhood revolved around reenactments of favorite Saturday morning TV shows about cowboys and Indians. The hours we spent playing these games are some of my fondest memories. Over the years these sounds have disappeared from the neighborhood. The children living here now go to day care or after-school programs. Their free time has disappeared into a flurry of structured activity - sports, dance, academic enhancement.
Not long ago I went looking for my oldest granddaughter (swim team, dancing, scouting, academic achiever) and found her in the closet of her room, contendedly playing with her Barbies. I immediately apologized for my intrusion, told her what she was doing was a good thing, and left her to it.
It saddens me that a child today has to be reassured that imaginary play is acceptable. Sometimes, while driving to some activity, my husband and I have listened in as our two granddaughters in the back seat acted out some scenario that is obviously an ongoing drama. We exchanged a knowing glance and left the girls to it, relishing our eavesdropping role on a precious childhood ritual.
Today's children are all too often scheduled to the point where they have no time to explore the horizons of their imaginations. This threatens their ability to use the tool of play to work out in terms they understand the world they inhabit.
While their parents concentrate on giving them the best opportunities - in dance, sports, scouting, camp, scholastic activities - they are sometimes deprived of the greatest opportunity of all - to use their own, innate skills to adapt to and make sense of the environment in which they live.
Free play can be challenging to a parent. It can result in squabbles and disagreements that raise voices and are untidy. I believe it is the greatest gift a parent can give their children.
I could not agree more! I have a friend whose son graduated with my own who had her son's weekly schedule planned to the nth degree. Any child would be overwhelmed with sports, music lessons, scouts, homework, and religious commitments 24/7. Throw in honors and AP courses in high school and life can turn into a real pressure cooker.
ReplyDeleteI remember when my boys were young (the last group who can remember a time when they were not members of the Electronic Generation. I loved seeing how they would entertain each other, outside with wiffle ball, croquet, being on the swings and playing tag for hours. Every boy rode a bike around the neighborhood. Flash forward to how it is now, and play has become very solitary, decompression takes the form of killing aliens on XBOX. But I am getting off topic. I wholeheartedly agree with you that deprivation of one of life's greatest and most necessary joys, play, is a huge detriment to a child's development. It's where they first learn about the art of negotiation!
I am pleased to say that this art of play is not yet dead. We currently live on a cul de sac (there are two girls and a gaggle of boys) and all the kids - and sometime parents - gather outside from 4 pm till bedtime every weeknight to play... Sometimes its an organized game of tag with brand new rules each time, or helping the big kids play basketball, practicing their baseball tosses and catching skills, or just running around on bikes, skateboards, scooters, or mooching for snacks from the various homes. Whatever they are doing they do all entertain each other and all watch out for each other too...
ReplyDeleteEven when Elijah is inside by himself, he does not find himself absorbed into video games (most of the time) he has blocks, cars, legos, and like Jeanne most of his fantasies are star wars related... May the force continue to be with you... and the kiddos too!