We just stumbled upon an article by psychologist Dr Jim Taylor at the University of San Francisco lamenting the reduction in American children's play time. The article, in the 13 Oct 2009 issue of "Psychology Today", emphasises the importance of unstructured play in fostering creativity, cognitive and social skills, and independence, among other things. Dr Taylor argues that TV and overly structured "play dates" have resulted in a huge decline in outdoor play especially.
"Children are just too busy to play these days," claims Taylor, pointing to the pressures of homework, organized sports, music and dance lessons, and other structured activities. It sounds like Singapore, does it not? You might get better results, he says, by simply giving the kids a break.
Incidentally, a 2004 article in the same magazine suggests that parental "hyperconcern" (over-protectiveness) may be responsible for the growing number of psychologically fragile college age kids.
