Let the Children Play!

It is important for children to play, early. In light of the growing disunity and violence raging with the minds of the nation's adolescent youth, researchers are investigating various methods for dealing with the problem. However, those who are experienced in teaching our youngsters conflict resolutions and behavior management, have discovered that good old-fashioned play is a viable use to combat disruptive behavior. Unfortunately, children are often left in swings and baby seats, left in front of the television watching videos, or left to play on an iPad and Tablets void human conversation, eye contact, and old-fashioned play.  It started with Sesame Street parenting and has escalated out of control.

Play as a therapeutic tool, through project-based learning, is one of the central components of our professional development program, which modifies behavior in disruptive youngsters. Play is as vital as love, good nutrition, care, and hope. It is very important in the learning and emotional development of all children. Play is multi-faceted; it is how children experience fun and joy, combating depression. Through play children develop personalities and a positive sense of self, realize their potential, and experience success. Play unlocks children's creativity and imagination, and develops reading, thinking, and problem-solving skills, as well as further, develops motor skills. Through play, children process and manage emotions, and understand and interpret the world around them. Play helps children learn relationships and social skills to develop values and ethics. Play is brain food to help brains develop in ways critical to school success. It provides the foundation for learning including language development, reading, thinking, and reasoning skills.

Structured play supervised by an adult provides important opportunities for children to learn to trust and bond with adults. It gives them enforces respect for adults and others in authority. Adults are an adolescent child's most important learning resource. It allows children the chance to connect with adults in a positive manner, which will in fact build their confidence in authority figures in a relaxed and enjoyable setting. This trust and confidence will carry over into the classroom and school environment, then ultimately outside our school walls causing a transformation in the behavior of our students. The playful, creative child who comes to love learning is more likely to achieve and succeed than the anxious pressured adolescent who gets the impression that only grades and test scores are important. Play should be unstructured at times to allow for children to learn social skills needed to negotiate compromise, persuade, and cooperate.

Thus, play is a useful yet simple tool that needs to be reinstituted in homes, schools, and communities. Children have lost the art of play. For various reasons, including the advancement of the technological age, seeing children play in our neighborhoods is rare. Children who are outside are not as creative in their play as in the past. Adults complain that children stomp the grass, or pull-down leaves and branches, and even make too much noise. The scriptures say seek the old ways, there was far less violence in our communities when the days of children playing in the streets was common.

This is a call to action. Our children need to go outside, breathe God's almost-fresh air, and be allowed to run, jump, scream, holler, and shout! Let the children play!