How Play Teaches Children Praise

Children today play outside much less than older generations did. According to the Guardian fewer than 10% of children play outdoors compared to 40% of adults when they were young. Additionally, 90% tend to stay closer to home than kids from 30 years ago.

This is a problem that writer Richard Louv calls Nature Deficit Disorder, or "the human costs of alienation from nature" which include diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. As children serve to get the most benefit from their exposure to nature through education and play, they also suffer the most when alienated from it.

Parents seem to be driving children indoors due to an overall fear of the world outside - a place seen as too dangerous for them. This has become part of a cycle in which growing children end up developing a preference for indoor activities, and today playgrounds have to compete with video games, iPad apps, the internet and TV. So it’s refreshing to see that countries such as Sweden and Denmark are “upping the ante” when it comes to exciting outdoor parks to get children playing outside again with the hope many others will follow suit. When a myriad of problems emerge which correlate to these tendencies towards staying at home, such as obesity, addiction to media, and depression, the seriousness of this issue, one that too easily goes unnoticed, reveals itself.

It is indeed a challenge to strike the perfect balance between being the hand that they can hang on to, and letting kids develop the strength to get back up when they stumble. However, one must continue to have faith in the potential that God has given them to develop useful skills that will definitely come in handy—not only to ensure their success in society, but also for their very safety and survival. In Laudato Si, a poem on the basis of which Pope Francis wrote an encyclical about the environment and society, Saint Francis sang his praises through his grand appreciation of "brothers" sun, wind, air, and fire; and "sisters" moon and stars, water, Mother Earth, with the wonder and joy of a wide-eyed child. We can read this as an appraisal of the value that our relationship with nature holds in the development of our very relationship with God.

Modern society seems to keep up with this old knowledge. Unsupervised outdoor play and experiences in nature have been proven to help reduce obesity and symptoms of anxiety, depression and ADHD. Researchers and policy makers are finding out that children learn self-control over their own actions and decisions in their time alone without their parents, and as such prepare them for their future roles in society. During these precious moments, children begin to develop a more balanced approach to risk-taking, deeper bonds with their peers, and a genuine self-awareness and perspective on the wider world.

Parents cannot afford to risk depriving their children of such crucial experiences and skills, and this doesn't have to be the case. Well-knit neighborhoods and communities, as long as they continue to see the irreplaceable value of carving out time and providing spaces for children to roam, can come together to foster a much stronger sense of community. In addition, the knowledge of the risks that do come with giving children the freedom to play, shouldn't lead to the curbing of that very freedom. It should instead enable parents and communities to tackle this huge but worthwhile task.

Exclusively submitted to Catholic365