Drawing a link between children鈥檚 mental-health problems and a lack of free playtime, prominent educators, psychologists, and other experts interested in keeping playtime a central part of childhood have run a letter in a London newspaper stating their concerns.
Signed by such leading U.S. child-development figures as David Elkind, the author of The Hurried Child, and Lawrence Schweinhart, the president of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Mich., the Sept. 10 letter in The Daily Telegraph cited research in the United States and the United Kingdom showing that children are unhappy and experiencing 鈥渄iagnosable mental-health problems.鈥�
They attribute negative trends to the erosion of play, resulting from such factors as traffic in residential areas, too much 鈥渟creen-based entertainment,鈥� commercialized toys, and parents鈥� anxiety about children鈥檚 exposure to strangers.
鈥淧lay鈥攑articularly outdoor, unstructured, loosely supervised play鈥攁ppears to be vital to children鈥檚 all-round health and well-being,鈥� says the letter, published as an opinion article by the College Park, Md.-based Alliance for Childhood, which has affiliates in Europe and South America and promotes children鈥檚 healthy development.
The group also warned that 鈥渇ormal learning鈥� in preschool is replacing the time children have to play with friends, develop creativity, and become self-reliant.
Edward Miller, a senior researcher with the Alliance for Childhood, in the United States, said that, by itself, the letter is unlikely to put a stop to the trend toward less free time for children. But he added that a variety of other initiatives, including a PBS documentary scheduled for October, are drawing attention to the issue.
鈥淚 think people will go back and pull up some of these early warnings,鈥� he said.
In November, the alliance aims start a dialogue on the issue when it sponsors a session on 鈥渉ow play works鈥� at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, to be held in Chicago.
For more stories on this topic see Safety and Health.
