Sofa Cushions

Skimming over the home page of the New York Times this morning, this heading jumped out at me:  Effort to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum


I haven't thought much about this topic since I had my own children 30 years ago, but, now that I'm a grandparent, the issue has become relevant once more. For the past 20 years I have wondered how all this technology and immediate access to information (good and bad) would affect children growing up. I have been troubled to see children so "scheduled" with soccer practices, games, gymnastics, piano lessons, and AP classes.  Writer Hilary Stout states:

"For several years, studies and statistics have been mounting that suggest the culture of play in the United States is vanishing. Children spend far too much time in front of a screen, educators and parents lament — 7 hours 38 minutes a day on average, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation last year. And only one in five children live within walking distance (a half-mile) of a park or playground, according to a 2010 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control, making them even less inclined to frolic outdoors."

My first response is - "Well, who lets the child sit in front of a screen that many hours?" The answer soon bubbles up:

"Behind the numbers is adult behavior as well as children’s: Parents furiously tapping on their BlackBerrys in the living room, too stressed by work demands to tolerate noisy games in the background. Weekends consumed by soccer, lacrosse and other sports leagues, all organized and directed by parents. The full slate of lessons (chess, tae kwon do, Chinese, you name it) and homework beginning in the earliest grades."

"Too little playtime may seem to rank far down on the list of society’s worries, but the scientists, psychologists, educators and others who are part of the play movement say that most of the social and intellectual skills one needs to succeed in life and work are first developed through childhood play. Children learn to control their impulses through games like Simon Says, play advocates believe, and they learn to solve problems, negotiate, think creatively and work as a team when they dig together in a sandbox or build a fort with sofa cushions. (The experts define play as a game or activity initiated and directed by children. So video games don’t count, they say, except perhaps ones that involve creating something, and neither, really, do the many educational toys that do things like sing the ABC’s with the push of a button.)" 

To be fair, I have to admit that it would very difficult to raise a child today in our culture. You can't isolate your child from what's going on around him. If you do, he won't know how to deal with it once he gets older. Parents who want to create a more healthy atmosphere for their children must go to battle daily to keep things in balance - putting limitations on technology in the home and inevitably being unpopular with other parents or children who haven't made the same decisions. Not an easy path to choose.


Perhaps some good can come out of our current recession. Many families have been forced to cut back on items that cost money - technology, toys, lessons, team sports. One can hope that these families will find they have more time with their children and that everyone ends up benefiting from it.

The entire article here.