05/5/2016
Play & Playground Magazine publishes many important stories each month, and I try to make an effort to read most of them when I can. This month, one article in particular caught my eye, prompting me to delve into some archive stories from Jay Beckwith, an author who has been called one of the ‘fathers of the modern playground’. Last year Mr. Beckwith posted the blog titled ‘Cyborgs Don’t Play’. In this blog he cites some interesting points shown in recent studies:
- Taking play out of education produces good test takers but poor thinkers
- Taking rough and tumble play and challenge out of childhood produces adults who are risk averse and who adapt poorly to uncertainly
- Restricting children’s movement to car seats, strollers, etc. produces children with significant gross motor deficits
- Sanitizing the child’s life leads to many diseases such as asthma and obesity
- Play deprivation is one factor in the backgrounds of our most violent criminals
You can read more about this subject and Mr. Beckwith’s post HERE.