A Classroom of Monkey Bars and Slides / By
JANE E. BRODY / NY Times (4-10-07)
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:
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.