Home » ExchangeEveryDay » A Link Between Children’s Mental Health and Independent Play



Printer Friendly

ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
A Link Between Children’s Mental Health and Independent Play
January 5, 2024
Express your opinion on this issue
Creativity and the world of the imagination—the beauty of what we see as a child and the kind of play that we experience as a child—can be a way for us to survive tough times.
-Diane Paulus, Broadway theater director
 
 
 
 
“I began to look at research, which showed and documented that beginning as early as the 1960s until now, there has been a continuous, gradual but huge increase in anxiety, depression, and, most tragically, suicide among school-aged children and teens,” says play advocate and researcher Peter Gray, in a Washington Post interview. “Over that period of time, children have also been less and less free to do the things that make them happy and build the kind of character traits — of confidence, of internal locus of control, of agency — that allow them to feel like ‘the world is not too scary, because I can handle what life throws at me.’ This kind of attitude requires independent activity to develop, and we have been offering less and less of that activity.”

In the article, Gray and his colleagues David Lancy and David Bjorkland discuss their recently published article in the Journal of Pediatrics.

As for what to do? Bjorkland offers, “It’s hard to fight against the whole community, but there are little things — letting children handle some of their own difficulties. Don’t come to their rescue immediately. Make them an important part of a household. Kids want to help, and when they do, the task almost takes longer to achieve, and we’re often reluctant to really let them get involved. Let them help, encourage them to help, maybe even require them to help now and then. Let them do things that are slightly risky: ‘Get off that fence, you’re going to fall!’ — Well, how far are they going to fall? It’s not probably going to be anything that’s going to break a bone. Let them get out and explore.”

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.





Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.