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The Value of Play

Why Kids Just Need to Be Kids

By Rae Pica

as saying that "play deprivation" can lead to "depression, hostility and the loss of the things that make us human beings."

For a great many contemporary adult human beings, "balance" is a word that has come to symbolize something out of reach – something desired but elusive, as we work long hours, tend to families and spend what little free time we have as productively as possible. What used to be considered leisure time (remember lazy Sunday afternoons?) must now be filled. It doesn't matter whether it's with "recreation," chores of one kind or another or shuttling the children here and there, just so long as we can say we didn't waste it. "What did you do this weekend?" has become a question to be reckoned with on Monday mornings. It demands a smart answer, just as surely as did our eighth grade algebra teacher.

If you're an adult who's been giving balance some consideration – who's tired of the treadmill – perhaps you find yourself looking back fondly on what now seems to be an idyllic childhood, back to the days when time stretched endlessly before you. Back when there were few demands on that time. And, except for summers, weekends and days when the darkness fell too early, there always seemed to be plenty of it.

Shouldn't today's children have similar memories to cling to when they become busy adults? Let's make sure they have quiet moments of solitude – child-initiated and directed activity – a break from the relentless competition so prevalent in society. Let's make sure they have a chance to play!