As a clinician specializing in working with children and an
advocate/practitioner of Play Therapy, I must applaud the alert this
article provides about the risks of the lost learning opportunities and
the “unintended message from this hurried, intense preparation for
adulthood” of our increasingly less ‘playful’ society. Research has for
many years recognized the cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral
benefits of providing children with unstructured, child-centered play
time; HOWEVER, as important as play is for children, it is (at least)
nearly equally important for adults.
Popular phrases are popular because of their resonance of truth and what
is it we do when we are struggling with the challenges of life? What is
the process we engage in to reach a resolution? We “play with an idea”!!
Most adults do so in their thoughts alone whereas others also interact
with their environment as part of this process. I suggest that this
devaluation and denial of play’s importance to adult health is a second
major contributant to the general devaluation by our society of the power
and importance of play. I would contend that play is, even for adults,
the foundation of contentment and achievement. We need to advocate for
adults, just as for children, to engage the world with that ‘playfulness’
that allows us to see the many possibilities and options each of our life
experiences exposes. We need to remember what these people knew:
G.B. Shaw: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old
because we stop playing”
R. von Oech: “Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is
certainly the father.”
G.K. Chesterson:“The true object of all human life is play.”
Respectfully submitted: T.G. Borkan, PhD-Psychologist
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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