Popular in Psychology

Most Cited

The adapted mind

Dalhousie University Jerome Barkow

Psychology

Consumers’ pursuit of material and experiential purchases

Cornell University Tom Gilovich

Experimental Psychology

Time to investigate human visual shape perception

University of Montreal Martin Arguin

Most Cited

James S. Jackson and the program for research on Black Americans

Harvard University David R. Williams

Psychology

Violence and Mental Illness: Rethinking Risk Factors and Enhancing Public Safety

Duke University Eric Elbogen

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive remediation – where are we now and what should we do next?

King's College London Til Wykes

Cognitive Psychology

Harnessing Plasticity in the Atypical Developing Brain using Neurostimulation

University of Surrey Roi Cohen Kadosh

Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Well-being

View more insights in Professional - Social Sciences - Education - Psychology - Educational Psychology - Developmental Psychology

View more figures from Boston College

View the page of Peter Gray

Read the Study

Next in Developmental Psychology

Lives and legacies of people with intellectual disability

Kenneth Keith | University of San Diego

Relationship between autonomic arousal and attention orienting

Alessio Bellato | University of Southampton

Peter Gray suggests the primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 6, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video video discusses the decline of children's independence and play due to increasing restrictions in various countries, notably the United States and parts of Europe. Over the years, children have been spending less time outdoors, experiencing fewer opportunities for self-directed play, and becoming more reliant on adult supervision. This video video trend has contributed to a lack of resilience, confidence, and essential life skills in children, as they are less able to face challenges without adult intervention.

The author emphasizes the importance of play for children, which nurtures autonomy, competence, and relatedness—three psychological needs essential for their well-being. As children have less time to play freely, they are more prone to unhappiness and mental health issues. The discussion highlights various social changes that have occurred since the 1950s, including a rise in academic pressure and societal fears about child safety.

Several suggestions are made for encouraging play, such as schools providing "Play Club" sessions with trained adults overseeing but not interfering, and parents collaborating to allow their children to play together in safe environments. The discourse underscores the need for research into effective methods for reversing the trend of reduced play and independence for children, advocating for a balanced approach that allows children to explore and engage in play, promoting psychological resilience and happiness.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.075 --> 00:01.965
It's to some degree a global problem,

00:02.345 --> 00:05.125
but it's primarily a problem in certain countries,

00:05.945 --> 00:10.085
and these tend to be countries that where we have,

00:11.145 --> 00:14.365
we have been, restricting children's lives.

00:15.325 --> 00:17.205
Children's lives have been restricted throughout Europe,

00:17.405 --> 00:20.645
I could say, but less so in some countries than others.

00:21.545 --> 00:22.885
And they've been restricted

00:22.925 --> 00:24.605
tremendously in the United States.

00:24.905 --> 00:27.405
And I think a similar thing is true in the uk.

00:27.555 --> 00:32.245
Over time, over time we are see seeing,

00:32.505 --> 00:34.605
fewer and fewer children outdoors,

00:34.975 --> 00:37.725
doing things on their own, seeing more

00:37.785 --> 00:41.885
and more children in adult directed activities,

00:42.885 --> 00:43.885
children spending more

00:43.885 --> 00:45.925
and more time at school and schoolwork.

00:46.065 --> 00:49.365
The school year has increased in many ways.

00:49.945 --> 00:52.165
Um, the opportunities for children

00:52.865 --> 00:57.205
to engage in self-directed activities to learn how

00:57.205 --> 01:01.485
to manage their own lives, because these oppor,

01:01.485 --> 01:03.685
because there's always an adult around managing things

01:03.705 --> 01:06.965
for them, have been, taken away.

01:07.705 --> 01:09.485
And the result of that is

01:09.515 --> 01:12.165
that we're seeing children growing up,

01:12.265 --> 01:16.085
to their teenage years, even growing up beyond that, not,

01:16.265 --> 01:19.485
developing the confidence, the skills,

01:19.745 --> 01:24.125
the internal character traits, the courage, if you will, to,

01:24.385 --> 01:28.005
take charge of their own life to do risky things to

01:28.075 --> 01:30.205
that, to experience the bumps in the road

01:30.205 --> 01:32.965
of life without falling apart from them.

01:33.305 --> 01:36.965
And so I'm convinced that that is the major,

01:37.615 --> 01:39.165
major reason for the increase.

01:39.165 --> 01:42.445
This increase has been gradual over many years throughout

01:42.445 --> 01:43.965
the second half of the 20th century.

01:44.905 --> 01:46.205
Uh, and,

01:47.785 --> 01:50.165
and we're still seeing the effects of that now.

01:50.945 --> 01:54.605
One thing that we know that was happening really beginning

01:54.745 --> 01:56.485
as early as the 1950s,

01:56.785 --> 02:01.205
but then, increasing over time is that we were taking,

02:01.745 --> 02:04.725
children's, freedom in a sense

02:04.725 --> 02:06.205
to be children away from them.

02:06.785 --> 02:10.205
We were gradually restricting their ability

02:10.465 --> 02:13.805
to play independently of adults, their ability to

02:14.745 --> 02:18.765
be out in the public without constantly being guarded.

02:19.465 --> 02:22.925
Uh, we were gradually increasing the amount

02:22.925 --> 02:25.285
of time they were spending in school, the amount

02:25.285 --> 02:27.005
of schoolwork they were doing at home.

02:27.985 --> 02:30.805
We were gradually increasing the amount

02:30.945 --> 02:34.165
of adult directed activities outside of school

02:34.165 --> 02:36.445
that they were doing gradually.

02:36.545 --> 02:41.245
In other words, taking away, their opportunities

02:41.745 --> 02:43.885
to learn how to initiate their own activities,

02:43.885 --> 02:45.805
control their own activities, do things

02:45.805 --> 02:46.925
that are a little bit dangerous,

02:47.035 --> 02:48.845
realize they can survive it.

02:49.425 --> 02:51.325
Uh, learn how to make friends

02:51.425 --> 02:54.085
and keep friends, which all of this is

02:54.085 --> 02:55.805
what children do when they're playing

02:55.805 --> 02:58.205
with other children away from adults.

02:59.185 --> 03:02.445
And, we have been gradually depriving children

03:02.545 --> 03:03.765
of the ability to do that.

03:04.825 --> 03:06.005
I'm, convinced

03:06.145 --> 03:09.325
and, present much of the data for this in various

03:09.385 --> 03:13.045
of my publications in including the most recent,

03:13.115 --> 03:15.365
article in the Journal of Pediatrics.

03:16.105 --> 03:20.765
Uh, that, that this rise that I was talking about

03:20.765 --> 03:23.205
through the second half of the 20th century was largely

03:23.205 --> 03:28.085
because of our taking away the opportunities for children

03:29.145 --> 03:30.965
to learn the kinds of skills

03:31.225 --> 03:34.085
and character traits that create resilience, that create,

03:34.085 --> 03:36.245
you know, I can, I can do this.

03:36.485 --> 03:38.765
I can feel some fear and it doesn't destroy me.

03:38.965 --> 03:40.765
I can, be bullied

03:40.905 --> 03:42.965
and, you know, I've been bullied before.

03:43.045 --> 03:46.245
I can handle that. I can, you know, learning how to deal

03:46.245 --> 03:47.565
with the bumps of the road of life.

03:47.565 --> 03:49.885
That's what child, that's what much of childhood is about.

03:50.065 --> 03:54.245
And it can't occur if you've got an adult there always

03:54.365 --> 03:56.925
protecting you from the bumps of the road of life.

03:57.745 --> 03:59.285
And so that's part of it.

03:59.285 --> 04:01.605
But then there's another even more obvious part of it,

04:01.705 --> 04:04.645
and it's almost amazing to me that more people,

04:05.265 --> 04:06.325
aren't talking about this.

04:07.105 --> 04:09.685
You take away play from children, and what do you expect?

04:09.795 --> 04:11.565
They're gonna be less happy, right?

04:12.045 --> 04:13.725
I mean, that's a no brainer.

04:13.845 --> 04:15.125
I mean, gosh, why didn't we think of that?

04:16.025 --> 04:20.125
You know, my God, take away play.

04:20.445 --> 04:22.685
I mean, play is what makes children happy.

04:22.945 --> 04:25.045
And we're in, instead of play,

04:25.215 --> 04:28.125
we've put them in all these kind of anxiety provoking,

04:28.125 --> 04:30.525
constantly judged positions.

04:30.625 --> 04:33.765
And, you know, there's a, there's a,

04:34.685 --> 04:37.005
a famous play researcher Brian Sutton Smith

04:37.025 --> 04:38.165
who died a few years ago.

04:38.165 --> 04:40.925
And he used to say in talks, the opposite

04:41.105 --> 04:42.525
of play is not work.

04:42.585 --> 04:46.245
The opposite of play is depression. You take away play.

04:46.325 --> 04:47.925
I don't use, I don't say that exact way

04:48.165 --> 04:49.765
'cause the grammar doesn't quite make sense to me,

04:50.105 --> 04:52.525
but if you take away play from, kids,

04:52.525 --> 04:53.605
they're gonna be depressed.

04:54.515 --> 04:56.605
It's as in, in a way, it's as simple as that.

04:57.105 --> 04:59.245
But it is actually also more complex

04:59.245 --> 05:00.605
because you take away play

05:00.625 --> 05:03.525
and you're also taking away the vehicle

05:03.525 --> 05:05.485
through which children learn

05:05.485 --> 05:07.365
to be resilient in the long run.

05:07.935 --> 05:10.125
We're no longer sending kids outdoors.

05:10.865 --> 05:13.325
Um, I think there's a lot of reasons for that.

05:13.785 --> 05:17.125
Um, houses are bigger, at least in the United States,

05:17.265 --> 05:18.645
the less need to send them out.

05:19.005 --> 05:20.845
Families tend to be smaller and so on.

05:20.845 --> 05:23.685
And so that's part of it. A bigger part of that,

05:23.985 --> 05:26.765
and the United States at least, I believe the same is true

05:26.945 --> 05:31.805
and much of Europe and in the uk, is that we have been made

05:31.825 --> 05:34.525
to be frightened of kids being outdoors.

05:34.945 --> 05:37.685
We believe there are these dangers out there.

05:38.505 --> 05:42.285
Uh, in the us this was accelerated in the 1980s.

05:42.295 --> 05:44.085
There were a couple of cases when, in the

05:44.145 --> 05:48.565
or late 1970s, when in the early nine, it went around 1981

05:49.265 --> 05:51.605
of young boys being kidnapped and murdered.

05:51.745 --> 05:55.205
Now, this is a very rare occurrence, because it's rare

05:55.205 --> 05:56.485
and because of it's terrible.

05:56.585 --> 06:00.365
It made big news. And so everybody heard about it.

06:01.385 --> 06:03.685
And the idea that the, the concept

06:03.865 --> 06:07.125
of stranger danger came about in the United States.

06:07.125 --> 06:09.605
Everybody's afraid that strangers were going

06:09.605 --> 06:11.845
to kidnap their kids or murder their kids

06:11.905 --> 06:15.325
or molest their kids or do something terrible to their kids.

06:15.625 --> 06:18.685
And, and the idea became about almost

06:18.685 --> 06:21.485
that you were a negligent parent if you do

06:21.485 --> 06:23.725
what parents always used to do, which was

06:23.725 --> 06:25.845
to send their kids out without going out with them

06:25.865 --> 06:28.125
or having some adult there to guard them.

06:28.625 --> 06:29.765
So that was part of it.

06:30.355 --> 06:33.925
Schooling increased the amount of time in schooling

06:33.925 --> 06:35.125
between 1950

06:35.225 --> 06:38.085
and the end of the 20th century in the United States,

06:38.145 --> 06:41.845
we added five full additional weeks to the school year.

06:42.515 --> 06:44.125
This, I've looked back at the data,

06:44.225 --> 06:46.485
we also have added homework in elementary school.

06:46.875 --> 06:48.925
When I was in school in 1950s, there was no

06:49.445 --> 06:50.725
homework in elementary school.

06:50.945 --> 06:54.725
Now even kindergartners are taking home homework.

06:55.425 --> 06:58.525
So you, even when school is over, school isn't over,

06:58.545 --> 06:59.885
you're now doing homework.

07:00.585 --> 07:02.885
We took away, we begin to think,

07:02.885 --> 07:06.285
wouldn't it be nice if instead of the kids having to go out

07:06.285 --> 07:10.005
and make up their own ball games, let's do it for them.

07:11.135 --> 07:14.765
Let's have adults run the games and, do it.

07:14.775 --> 07:16.645
We've got an umpires, we've got all,

07:16.645 --> 07:18.925
we've got official rules, and so on and so forth.

07:19.355 --> 07:21.765
What, and, and all this was good intentions,

07:21.825 --> 07:26.005
but the result is you're taking away from kids the task

07:26.305 --> 07:28.765
and the pleasure and the growing experience

07:28.765 --> 07:31.125
of making their own games, creating their own rules,

07:31.635 --> 07:34.965
negotiating issues themselves, figuring out how to, how

07:34.965 --> 07:35.965
to make things fair.

07:36.995 --> 07:39.685
When, when you take away all this from children,

07:39.825 --> 07:42.805
you're taking away the opportunities for them

07:42.945 --> 07:44.525
to grow psychologically.

07:44.945 --> 07:47.805
So self-determination theory is, is all

07:47.805 --> 07:49.085
of the word theory is there.

07:49.085 --> 07:52.045
It's not really a theory, it's a whole field of research

07:52.195 --> 07:56.925
that has to do with the difference between how people

07:57.555 --> 08:02.205
feel and behave when they are in charge of

08:02.205 --> 08:04.845
what they're doing, or they at least perceive themselves

08:04.865 --> 08:08.125
as in charge of what they're doing versus when they feel

08:08.235 --> 08:11.445
that they're doing something that they're re being required

08:12.145 --> 08:14.205
or pushed by other people to do.

08:15.065 --> 08:19.045
Now, right off, you can see that over time, we have given

08:19.645 --> 08:23.365
children less and less opportunity to feel in charge of

08:23.365 --> 08:25.925
what they're doing, to feel like they're doing

08:25.955 --> 08:27.885
what they wanna do, as opposed to doing

08:27.885 --> 08:30.365
what some adult is telling them they ought to be doing.

08:31.305 --> 08:33.845
Now, within self-determination theory,

08:34.055 --> 08:37.445
there is something called basic needs theory.

08:37.695 --> 08:41.445
Again, not a theory, but, the, the

08:42.035 --> 08:43.845
premise here is

08:43.845 --> 08:48.085
that there are three basic psychological needs that all

08:48.085 --> 08:52.285
of us need, regardless of our age, need to satisfy in order

08:52.385 --> 08:56.925
to feel, happy, to feel mentally well,

08:57.065 --> 08:58.645
to feel satisfied with life.

09:00.735 --> 09:04.355
One of those needs is the, is the need for autonomy,

09:04.695 --> 09:06.955
the need to feel like I've got,

09:07.075 --> 09:08.755
I can make some choices in my life.

09:09.015 --> 09:10.195
I'm in charge of my life.

09:10.375 --> 09:13.115
In, in, in some sense, at least, none

09:13.115 --> 09:14.955
of us are totally in charge of our lives,

09:15.215 --> 09:17.435
but to the degree that we feel we're in charge

09:17.455 --> 09:19.515
of our life, we feel better.

09:20.175 --> 09:23.915
The second, the second need is competence.

09:24.925 --> 09:26.915
Competence means really,

09:27.895 --> 09:31.315
it doesn't mean being good at what somebody else

09:31.845 --> 09:33.315
wants us to be good at.

09:34.415 --> 09:37.875
It means being good at what we wanna be good at, right?

09:38.535 --> 09:40.675
It means that I wanna do this.

09:40.875 --> 09:43.435
I wanna choose to do this, but I also wanna be good at it,

09:43.455 --> 09:44.915
and I wanna get good at it.

09:45.965 --> 09:49.225
The third of these is, is relatedness,

09:49.225 --> 09:52.145
which really means having friends, having peers.

09:52.365 --> 09:54.785
We all need peers. We need social support.

09:54.885 --> 09:57.105
We need people who like us, and we like them.

09:58.245 --> 10:02.705
Now, the point I wanna make here is how do children satisfy

10:03.235 --> 10:04.665
these three basic needs?

10:05.475 --> 10:08.485
They satisfy them primarily through play,

10:08.575 --> 10:10.005
especially young children.

10:10.275 --> 10:11.605
Play is autonomy.

10:11.875 --> 10:16.125
Play is by definition doing what you've decided to do.

10:16.345 --> 10:17.365
You are in charge of it.

10:17.385 --> 10:19.725
You make the rules, you do the negotiating.

10:19.785 --> 10:21.965
You, you are in charge of, that's autonomy.

10:22.915 --> 10:24.045
Play is also

10:24.305 --> 10:26.885
how children become competent in what they care about.

10:27.125 --> 10:28.805
Children play at various things.

10:28.875 --> 10:31.405
They find things they really care about. They play at 'em.

10:31.405 --> 10:33.845
They in part of that play, they work at it,

10:33.845 --> 10:35.085
they become good at it,

10:35.105 --> 10:38.085
and they feel good about being good at the

10:38.085 --> 10:39.205
things that they care about.

10:40.105 --> 10:42.925
And especially for young children, in terms of relatedness

10:43.515 --> 10:46.005
play is how children make friends.

10:47.285 --> 10:51.545
Uh, for, for a kid under the age of 12, a friend, almost

10:51.685 --> 10:54.025
by definition, is somebody that you play with.

10:55.245 --> 10:58.345
So play and play is how play is how you learn

10:58.345 --> 10:59.985
to make friends, how you keep friends.

11:00.605 --> 11:04.425
So by taking play free, play away from children,

11:05.295 --> 11:09.305
what we are doing is depriving them of their primary means,

11:09.445 --> 11:13.025
of satisfying these three basic needs

11:13.325 --> 11:14.945
for psychological wellbeing.

11:15.755 --> 11:17.175
So, all, just one thing. I would say,

11:17.195 --> 11:20.895
not a little bit more controlling, way more controlling

11:21.515 --> 11:23.935
at least than they were when I was a kid, right?

11:24.875 --> 11:28.655
So I think that it's, it is difficult for parents today.

11:28.695 --> 11:31.455
I know more parents who would like to send their kids out

11:31.605 --> 11:33.575
that really would like to send their kids out.

11:34.155 --> 11:37.815
But we've got the problem that, let's say you do,

11:37.875 --> 11:39.055
you dare send your kid out.

11:39.755 --> 11:41.615
Nobody else is sending their kid out.

11:41.715 --> 11:44.015
You know, kids are not interested in the

11:44.015 --> 11:45.495
great outdoors all by themselves.

11:45.515 --> 11:48.215
We might wish they were, but they're not.

11:48.555 --> 11:50.695
And, they're interested in other kids.

11:50.995 --> 11:53.325
And if there are no other kids out there to play

11:53.325 --> 11:55.405
with, what are they gonna do?

11:55.405 --> 11:57.285
They're gonna, they're gonna be bored.

11:57.285 --> 11:59.845
They're gonna get on their iPhone if they,

11:59.845 --> 12:01.245
their cell phone, if they got one.

12:01.345 --> 12:02.805
Uh, and interact with their friends,

12:02.825 --> 12:04.245
the only way they can, right?

12:04.905 --> 12:06.845
So, so that doesn't work.

12:06.845 --> 12:10.405
You've gotta find ways that there's gonna be a bunch of kids

12:10.915 --> 12:14.085
able to play, and ideally a bunch of kids who are,

12:14.425 --> 12:16.045
can play regularly together.

12:17.025 --> 12:18.565
So we've been working,

12:18.565 --> 12:20.845
here in the United States on various ways to do that.

12:21.505 --> 12:25.725
Uh, one way is through schools, offering free play

12:25.785 --> 12:30.405
before school or after school where, there's an adult

12:30.505 --> 12:33.925
for safety, but the adult is trained not to intervene, not

12:33.925 --> 12:36.605
to tell the kids how to play, not to solve minor problems.

12:36.675 --> 12:39.285
That play, part of the whole function of play is to,

12:39.465 --> 12:41.605
for kids to learn how to solve their own problems.

12:42.315 --> 12:44.805
Many of the schools that do this, call it play club,

12:44.825 --> 12:47.325
but they have it sometimes before school, sometimes

12:47.325 --> 12:49.405
after school, at least an hour long.

12:50.185 --> 12:52.365
And there's all kinds of things to play with.

12:52.415 --> 12:54.005
There are kids of all ages.

12:54.355 --> 12:55.725
It's usually elementary school,

12:55.725 --> 12:57.165
kindergarten through fifth grade.

12:58.025 --> 13:00.965
And, and this has been a great success.

13:01.345 --> 13:04.245
Uh, and the only rule is don't hurt anybody.

13:04.705 --> 13:05.765
At least not on purpose.

13:06.545 --> 13:11.285
So that's the, that's one way, by trying

13:11.285 --> 13:13.085
to encourage schools to do this.

13:13.195 --> 13:15.765
It's the equipment is there at most schools.

13:15.945 --> 13:17.405
Uh, you could add some equipment.

13:17.515 --> 13:19.205
It's very inexpensive to do that.

13:19.225 --> 13:23.005
You just need to have at least one adult there to do it.

13:23.225 --> 13:25.005
And, this is one way to solve it.

13:25.315 --> 13:28.605
Another thing that I suggest to parents,

13:28.905 --> 13:31.525
and this is a little bit more difficult to do in some ways,

13:31.825 --> 13:35.845
but in other ways easier, is, get together

13:35.845 --> 13:37.365
with other parents in your neighborhood.

13:37.705 --> 13:39.565
Uh, get to know the other parents in your

13:39.565 --> 13:40.685
neighborhood who have kids

13:42.205 --> 13:43.205
And talk to them. Maybe

13:43.205 --> 13:44.505
talk to them. You, you know,

13:45.065 --> 13:46.585
remember the old days when we used to go out

13:46.585 --> 13:48.305
and play, how much fun that is.

13:48.305 --> 13:51.025
And it would be great if our kids had that opportunity,

13:51.805 --> 13:53.505
and maybe we can arrange that.

13:53.645 --> 13:58.025
You know, what, if every Saturday afternoon and, or sat

13:58.045 --> 13:59.665
and certain other days on,

13:59.675 --> 14:02.865
after school, we just all sent our kids out.

14:03.925 --> 14:06.465
And, we just all send them out, get outta the house.

14:06.525 --> 14:07.785
You can't be in the house anymore

14:07.885 --> 14:11.545
and leave the cell phone in sort inside,

14:12.095 --> 14:13.785
that they send, we send them out.

14:14.445 --> 14:17.465
And if parents are worried, we have one parent out there.

14:17.905 --> 14:19.865
I I usually suggest a grandparent

14:19.865 --> 14:22.345
because I think grandparents are generally more relaxed

14:22.525 --> 14:24.425
and better at this than parents are

14:25.165 --> 14:26.625
out there just for safety.

14:27.485 --> 14:29.785
Uh, and, and just let 'em play.

14:30.125 --> 14:32.345
And, it may take a little while for them to figure out

14:32.345 --> 14:34.385
how to play, but especially if you've got little kids in the

14:34.385 --> 14:35.985
mix, they haven't really forgotten how to play.

14:36.005 --> 14:37.665
And they often are lead the way.

14:37.845 --> 14:40.345
That's one of the reasons I like age, mix, play.

14:40.365 --> 14:42.305
The little kids know how to play,

14:42.365 --> 14:45.665
and they stimulate the older kids and teenagers into it.

14:46.325 --> 14:48.465
So that's, that's another route.

14:48.775 --> 14:50.425
It's hard to do. I can't say

14:50.615 --> 14:52.205
That it's really common here,

14:52.205 --> 14:53.925
but there are neighborhoods that do it.

14:53.985 --> 14:56.245
It takes some initiative to get it started.

14:56.935 --> 14:58.045
There are various other things.

14:58.095 --> 14:59.685
We've got increasing numbers

14:59.825 --> 15:01.605
of libraries in the United States

15:01.605 --> 15:03.365
that are offering play at the library.

15:03.365 --> 15:05.485
They're recognizing this is a community need.

15:05.785 --> 15:09.125
Um, some of them are offering really free play.

15:09.125 --> 15:11.765
They close the, they say that for people who want quiet,

15:11.875 --> 15:14.085
they, there's a room there where you can go to.

15:14.185 --> 15:16.365
But we are opening up the main part of the library

15:16.545 --> 15:18.805
for play at, indoors and outdoors,

15:18.865 --> 15:20.885
or a few libraries doing that kind of thing.

15:21.645 --> 15:25.165
A lot of libraries in this country now have maker spaces in

15:25.165 --> 15:27.565
them, which is basically constructive play

15:27.715 --> 15:29.085
with high tech equipment.

15:29.145 --> 15:30.645
And the kids love that.

15:30.825 --> 15:33.245
And they're generally better at learning how

15:33.245 --> 15:34.805
to do it than the adults are.

15:35.025 --> 15:38.885
And so these are some of the things that are going on that,

15:39.065 --> 15:43.725
that, that, that, that are, that are ways

15:43.725 --> 15:45.725
that parents can, can look into

15:45.865 --> 15:48.845
and pursue to try to bring more play for their children.

15:49.335 --> 15:52.605
We're not gonna, I, in any immediate sense, go back to the

15:53.185 --> 15:56.125
era that I grew up in, where you just go outdoors

15:56.265 --> 15:57.645
and there's kids to play with.

15:57.985 --> 16:01.245
Um, we're, most parents are not gonna send their kids out

16:01.385 --> 16:05.005
unless there is an adult there somehow

16:05.545 --> 16:09.725
who would be responsible for safety that children need more.

16:09.725 --> 16:11.205
Play is well established.

16:11.265 --> 16:14.205
If we ever needed research for that, I'm not sure we did,

16:14.945 --> 16:16.605
but there's lots of research.

16:16.795 --> 16:17.885
It's summarized well.

16:17.905 --> 16:19.645
And there's an article that I've published in,

16:20.025 --> 16:21.445
in the Journal of Pediatrics,

16:21.445 --> 16:23.565
but it's summarized many other places too.

16:24.345 --> 16:26.845
Uh, never hurts to have more research of that sort,

16:26.865 --> 16:28.165
but we don't need that research.

16:28.555 --> 16:33.205
What we need research is how in this world, what is going

16:33.205 --> 16:37.365
to work to reverse, this,

16:37.745 --> 16:38.845
de this deprivation?

16:38.845 --> 16:40.125
What are the things we can do?

16:41.145 --> 16:45.125
So for example, I mentioned what we're doing in schools,

16:45.545 --> 16:47.605
to bring what the schools called Play Club.

16:47.605 --> 16:49.845
We're actually doing research on that right now.

16:50.505 --> 16:53.125
So we're doing some studies, some controlled studies

16:53.215 --> 16:55.645
where some schools are doing it, others are not.

16:56.385 --> 16:59.405
Uh, similar schools we're looking before and

16:59.405 --> 17:03.165
after, over a year or more of having these opportunities.

17:03.355 --> 17:05.085
What effect has this had on the kids?

17:05.395 --> 17:07.285
What effect has it had on the schools?

17:07.395 --> 17:09.925
What effect has it had on parents in terms

17:09.925 --> 17:11.885
of their feeling more, able

17:11.945 --> 17:14.325
and willing to give their kids a little bit more

17:14.325 --> 17:15.685
free reign in their own lives?

17:16.385 --> 17:19.245
So that's, that's one kind of research. Research.

17:19.505 --> 17:22.765
Um, I think research on, how

17:24.395 --> 17:28.875
I, how we can best convince parents

17:29.345 --> 17:32.755
that, they need to loosen the reins on their kids.

17:33.535 --> 17:36.795
We really need research on how to solve the problem.

17:37.295 --> 17:40.595
Uh, we can come up with ideas, the ideas

17:40.595 --> 17:42.275
that I just presented, for example.

17:42.895 --> 17:46.315
But it'd be nice to, to be able to cite some evidence. Okay?

17:46.335 --> 17:49.875
So those neighborhoods that have done this,

17:50.615 --> 17:52.195
the kids are better in some way.

17:52.195 --> 17:53.875
It'd be nice to have, be able to document that

17:53.935 --> 17:57.875
and not just say it based on, on anecdotes.

Restrictions on Children's Freedom and Play

00:00:00 - It's to some degree a global problem, but it's primarily a problem in certain countries, and these tend to be countries that where we have, we have been, restricting children's lives. Children's lives have been restricted throughout Europe, I could say, but less so in some countries than others. And they've been restricted tremendously in the United States. And I think a similar thing is true in the uk. Over time, over time we are see seeing,
00:00:34 - doing things on their own, seeing more and more children in adult directed activities, children spending more and more time at school and schoolwork. The school year has increased in many ways. the opportunities for children to engage in self-directed activities to learn how to manage their own lives, because these oppor, because there's always an adult around managing things
00:01:07 - And the result of that is that we're seeing children growing up, to their teenage years, even growing up beyond that, not, developing the confidence, the skills, the internal character traits, the courage, if you will, to, take charge of their own life to do risky things to that, to experience the bumps in the road of life without falling apart from them. And so I'm convinced that that is the major,
00:01:39 - This increase has been gradual over many years throughout the second half of the 20th century. and, and we're still seeing the effects of that now. One thing that we know that was happening really beginning as early as the 1950s, but then, increasing over time is that we were taking, children's, freedom in a sense to be children away from them. We were gradually restricting their ability
00:02:14 - be out in the public without constantly being guarded. we were gradually increasing the amount of time they were spending in school, the amount of schoolwork they were doing at home. We were gradually increasing the amount of adult directed activities outside of school that they were doing gradually. In other words, taking away, their opportunities
00:02:43 - control their own activities, do things that are a little bit dangerous, realize they can survive it. learn how to make friends and keep friends, which all of this is what children do when they're playing with other children away from adults. And, we have been gradually depriving children of the ability to do that. I'm, convinced and, present much of the data for this in various of my publications in including the most recent,

Impact of Restricted Play on Child Resilience

00:03:16 - that, that this rise that I was talking about through the second half of the 20th century was largely because of our taking away the opportunities for children to learn the kinds of skills and character traits that create resilience, that create, you know, I can, I can do this. I can feel some fear and it doesn't destroy me. I can, be bullied and, you know, I've been bullied before. I can handle that. I can, you know, learning how to deal
00:03:47 - That's what child, that's what much of childhood is about. And it can't occur if you've got an adult there always protecting you from the bumps of the road of life. And so that's part of it. But then there's another even more obvious part of it, and it's almost amazing to me that more people, aren't talking about this. You take away play from children, and what do you expect? They're gonna be less happy, right? I mean, that's a no brainer. I mean, gosh, why didn't we think of that? You know, my God, take away play.
00:04:22 - And we're in, instead of play, we've put them in all these kind of anxiety provoking, constantly judged positions. And, you know, there's a, there's a, a famous play researcher Brian Sutton Smith who died a few years ago. And he used to say in talks, the opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression. You take away play. I don't use, I don't say that exact way 'cause the grammar doesn't quite make sense to me, but if you take away play from, kids,
00:04:54 - It's as in, in a way, it's as simple as that. But it is actually also more complex because you take away play and you're also taking away the vehicle through which children learn to be resilient in the long run. We're no longer sending kids outdoors. I think there's a lot of reasons for that. houses are bigger, at least in the United States, the less need to send them out. Families tend to be smaller and so on. And so that's part of it. A bigger part of that,
00:05:26 - and much of Europe and in the uk, is that we have been made to be frightened of kids being outdoors. We believe there are these dangers out there. in the us this was accelerated in the 1980s. There were a couple of cases when, in the or late 1970s, when in the early nine, it went around 1981 of young boys being kidnapped and murdered. Now, this is a very rare occurrence, because it's rare
00:05:56 - It made big news. And so everybody heard about it. And the idea that the, the concept of stranger danger came about in the United States. Everybody's afraid that strangers were going to kidnap their kids or murder their kids or molest their kids or do something terrible to their kids. And, and the idea became about almost that you were a negligent parent if you do what parents always used to do, which was to send their kids out without going out with them

Impact of Increased Schooling on Children's Autonomy

00:06:28 - So that was part of it. Schooling increased the amount of time in schooling between 1950 and the end of the 20th century in the United States, we added five full additional weeks to the school year. This, I've looked back at the data, we also have added homework in elementary school. When I was in school in 1950s, there was no homework in elementary school. Now even kindergartners are taking home homework. So you, even when school is over, school isn't over,
00:07:00 - We took away, we begin to think, wouldn't it be nice if instead of the kids having to go out and make up their own ball games, let's do it for them. Let's have adults run the games and, do it. We've got an umpires, we've got all, we've got official rules, and so on and so forth. What, and, and all this was good intentions, but the result is you're taking away from kids the task and the pleasure and the growing experience
00:07:31 - negotiating issues themselves, figuring out how to, how to make things fair. When, when you take away all this from children, you're taking away the opportunities for them to grow psychologically. So self-determination theory is, is all of the word theory is there. It's not really a theory, it's a whole field of research that has to do with the difference between how people feel and behave when they are in charge of
00:08:04 - as in charge of what they're doing versus when they feel that they're doing something that they're re being required or pushed by other people to do. Now, right off, you can see that over time, we have given children less and less opportunity to feel in charge of what they're doing, to feel like they're doing what they wanna do, as opposed to doing what some adult is telling them they ought to be doing. Now, within self-determination theory,
00:08:37 - Again, not a theory, but, the, the premise here is that there are three basic psychological needs that all of us need, regardless of our age, need to satisfy in order to feel, happy, to feel mentally well, to feel satisfied with life. One of those needs is the, is the need for autonomy,
00:09:07 - I can make some choices in my life. I'm in charge of my life. In, in, in some sense, at least, none of us are totally in charge of our lives, but to the degree that we feel we're in charge of our life, we feel better. The second, the second need is competence. Competence means really, it doesn't mean being good at what somebody else wants us to be good at. It means being good at what we wanna be good at, right?

The Importance of Play in Child Development

00:09:40 - I wanna choose to do this, but I also wanna be good at it, and I wanna get good at it. The third of these is, is relatedness, which really means having friends, having peers. We all need peers. We need social support. We need people who like us, and we like them. Now, the point I wanna make here is how do children satisfy these three basic needs? They satisfy them primarily through play,
00:10:10 - Play is autonomy. Play is by definition doing what you've decided to do. You are in charge of it. You make the rules, you do the negotiating. You, you are in charge of, that's autonomy. Play is also how children become competent in what they care about. Children play at various things. They find things they really care about. They play at 'em. They in part of that play, they work at it, they become good at it, and they feel good about being good at the things that they care about.
00:10:43 - play is how children make friends. for, for a kid under the age of 12, a friend, almost by definition, is somebody that you play with. So play and play is how play is how you learn to make friends, how you keep friends. So by taking play free, play away from children, what we are doing is depriving them of their primary means, of satisfying these three basic needs
00:11:15 - So, all, just one thing. I would say, not a little bit more controlling, way more controlling at least than they were when I was a kid, right? So I think that it's, it is difficult for parents today. I know more parents who would like to send their kids out that really would like to send their kids out. But we've got the problem that, let's say you do, you dare send your kid out. Nobody else is sending their kid out. You know, kids are not interested in the
00:11:45 - We might wish they were, but they're not. And, they're interested in other kids. And if there are no other kids out there to play with, what are they gonna do? They're gonna, they're gonna be bored. They're gonna get on their iPhone if they, their cell phone, if they got one. and interact with their friends, the only way they can, right? So, so that doesn't work. You've gotta find ways that there's gonna be a bunch of kids able to play, and ideally a bunch of kids who are,
00:12:17 - So we've been working, here in the United States on various ways to do that. one way is through schools, offering free play before school or after school where, there's an adult for safety, but the adult is trained not to intervene, not to tell the kids how to play, not to solve minor problems. That play, part of the whole function of play is to, for kids to learn how to solve their own problems. Many of the schools that do this, call it play club,

Encouraging Play Opportunities for Children

00:12:47 - after school, at least an hour long. And there's all kinds of things to play with. There are kids of all ages. It's usually elementary school, kindergarten through fifth grade. And, and this has been a great success. and the only rule is don't hurt anybody. At least not on purpose. So that's the, that's one way, by trying to encourage schools to do this. It's the equipment is there at most schools.
00:13:17 - It's very inexpensive to do that. You just need to have at least one adult there to do it. And, this is one way to solve it. Another thing that I suggest to parents, and this is a little bit more difficult to do in some ways, but in other ways easier, is, get together with other parents in your neighborhood. get to know the other parents in your neighborhood who have kids And talk to them. Maybe talk to them. You, you know, remember the old days when we used to go out
00:13:48 - And it would be great if our kids had that opportunity, and maybe we can arrange that. You know, what, if every Saturday afternoon and, or sat and certain other days on, after school, we just all sent our kids out. And, we just all send them out, get outta the house. You can't be in the house anymore and leave the cell phone in sort inside, that they send, we send them out. And if parents are worried, we have one parent out there.
00:14:19 - because I think grandparents are generally more relaxed and better at this than parents are out there just for safety. and, and just let 'em play. And, it may take a little while for them to figure out how to play, but especially if you've got little kids in the mix, they haven't really forgotten how to play. And they often are lead the way. That's one of the reasons I like age, mix, play. The little kids know how to play, and they stimulate the older kids and teenagers into it. So that's, that's another route.
00:14:50 - That it's really common here, but there are neighborhoods that do it. It takes some initiative to get it started. There are various other things. We've got increasing numbers of libraries in the United States that are offering play at the library. They're recognizing this is a community need. some of them are offering really free play. They close the, they say that for people who want quiet, they, there's a room there where you can go to. But we are opening up the main part of the library for play at, indoors and outdoors,
00:15:21 - A lot of libraries in this country now have maker spaces in them, which is basically constructive play with high tech equipment. And the kids love that. And they're generally better at learning how to do it than the adults are. And so these are some of the things that are going on that, that, that, that, that are, that are ways that parents can, can look into and pursue to try to bring more play for their children.

Addressing Children's Play Deprivation Research

00:15:53 - era that I grew up in, where you just go outdoors and there's kids to play with. we're, most parents are not gonna send their kids out unless there is an adult there somehow who would be responsible for safety that children need more. Play is well established. If we ever needed research for that, I'm not sure we did, but there's lots of research. It's summarized well. And there's an article that I've published in,
00:16:21 - but it's summarized many other places too. never hurts to have more research of that sort, but we don't need that research. What we need research is how in this world, what is going to work to reverse, this, de this deprivation? What are the things we can do? So for example, I mentioned what we're doing in schools, to bring what the schools called Play Club. We're actually doing research on that right now.
00:16:53 - where some schools are doing it, others are not. similar schools we're looking before and after, over a year or more of having these opportunities. What effect has this had on the kids? What effect has it had on the schools? What effect has it had on parents in terms of their feeling more, able and willing to give their kids a little bit more free reign in their own lives? So that's, that's one kind of research. Research. I think research on, how
00:17:53 - that, they need to loosen the reins on their kids. We really need research on how to solve the problem. we can come up with ideas, the ideas that I just presented, for example. But it'd be nice to, to be able to cite some evidence. Okay? So those neighborhoods that have done this, the kids are better in some way. It'd be nice to have, be able to document that and not just say it based on, on anecdotes.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Faculti

Popular in Psychology

The adapted mind

Time to investigate human visual shape perception

James S. Jackson and the program for research on Black Americans

Cognitive remediation – where are we now and what should we do next?

Harnessing Plasticity in the Atypical Developing Brain using Neurostimulation

Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Well-being

Next in Developmental Psychology

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Page Structure

Popular in Psychology

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Accessibility Options

Contrast Adjustment

Text Size Adjustment

Text Spacing Adjustment

Line Height Adjustment

Cursor Size Adjustment

Page Structure Options

Page Structure