Children Need To Play

'One in four Aussie kids doesn't have anywhere to play at home' that is according to research commissioned by Ikea. That's appalling!

In the past children could play in the street or in their backyard, but now that is getting harder to do. Today most people do not have experience with children, in the past that wasn't true. Whether you wanted to or not you had experience. And of course most mothers did not work, so that meant that children could play in the street because many eyes we keeping them safe. Cars were much noisier which also meant it was safer to play in the street.

We the increase in the size of houses and the destruction of backyards, the available space for children to play has also decreased. They cannot play in the street or in a backyard, their option are limited.

Parents are also much more involved than in the past, instead of letting children find their own entertainment. Yes this sometimes let to trouble. It also lead to self reliance and parents disciplining their children when things did lead to trouble. To develop into self sufficient adults children need time to work things out on their own. To find out their own limits and interests. They need time to be bored and to find ways to not be bored...or boring.

Today another obstacle to play is technology. TV's, computers, mobile phones, even headphones. All of these things restrict play. It is not that they do not have there place, they do. It is that while they may provide entertainment or distraction, they do not allow children to play. Play serves two purposes, one it allows children to learn about the adult world and secondly it helps to develop their physical and communication skills. Play helps children to grow and children who do not play suffer.

Play is not simply fun for a child it is education, development and growth, all in one. Sure they need other things, play is not all that a child needs. But they do need play and they need a place to play. They need to be able to design their own rules, they need to fail, they need to learn about human nature, they need to learn their limits, they need to learn other peoples limits and they need to succeed on their own as well. Play allows all of this to happen and as a society we need to give children a place to play. We need to stop building bigger houses and build bigger backyards!

Upon Hope Blog - A Traditional Conservative
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