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[...] Play time is in short supply for children these days and the lifelong consequences for developing children can be more serious than many people realize.
An article in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Play details not only how much children's play time has declined, but how this lack of play affects emotional development, leading to the rise of anxiety, depression, and problems of attention and self control.
[...] Gray describes this kind of unstructured, freely-chosen play as a testing ground for life. It provides critical life experiences without which young children cannot develop into confident and competent adults. Gray's article is meant to serve as a wake-up call regarding the effects of lost play, and he believes that lack of childhood free play time is a huge loss that must be addressed for the sake of our children and society.
Parents who hover over and intrude on their children's play are a big part of the problem, according to Gray. "It is hard to find groups of children outdoors at all, and, if you do find them, they are likely to be wearing uniforms and following the directions of coaches while their parents dutifully watch and cheer." He cites a study which assessed the way 6- to 8-year-olds spent their time in 1981 and again in 1997.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by mhajicek on Sunday May 13 2018, @05:26AM
I made the mistake of letting our kids play in our suburban back yard while watching them from in the house. A neighbor anonymously called the cops, who are legally required to call CPS, who are legally required to do an investigation, which includes going to the kids school and announcing to everyone who they are and who they're investigating. Thought it was a freak incident, until the exact same thing next week. Turns out the neighbor can do this anonymously once a week, and the government is required by law to go through the whole thing. They don't have the option of not investigating.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek