“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct”- Carl Jung
All children around the world play. In play, children exercise their vivid imaginations, ability to work as a team, build social connection, and learn the importance of acceptance and sympathy. In recent years, playtime has plummeted and been replaced by unprecedented loads of monotonous, suffocating, and detrimental school work and new digital obstacles that constantly re-wire our brains and abilities, resulting in a generation of traumatized children and future adults.
The action of play transcends all societies, from Sub-Saharan Africa and isolated islands, to global powers like Russia and the United States. We all start out as children, and as children we all need the fundamental skills that we can only derive from play. However, that ability to form such skills is threatened by the the bright screens of the new digital era, where impressionable young minds are being re-wired to crave very short hits of dopamine from social media over the long-term accomplishment that comes from hard work and effort. This can be seen in the growing inability of children and teenagers to form social connections and the increasing numbers of diagnoses of social anxiety. It is also seen in how tangible, physical human and emotional connection is being pushed out by artificial intelligence and computer algorithms who “match-make” for you- and you don’t even have to get up from your couch and talk to anyone. Even in school, where homework and studying for exams is tens of times more compared to what was assigned a few decades ago, and how it impacts the well-being of our future world inheritors. In his TED talk, Peter Gray explains how the decline of play has traumatized an entire generation of kids, and how modern education and society kills the imagination. (you can find his TED talk here)
In response to the necessity for playtime, teachers all across the globe have been participating in Global School Play Day (GSPD) to give their students a needed breather from the never ending events and tasks that fill up their hectic schedules — especially for teenagers. This picture is from GSPD 2020, where high school students are playing together outside of the classroom at school.
When asked about what Global School Play Day made her realize, a high school student said “Play day reminded me of what my childhood was like aside from sports and TV. It made me think about the difference in the way I grew up compared to the way my younger sister grew up, even though she’s only four years younger than me.” This goes to show how even in grade school, kids are recognizing that play is a fundamental and biological need in development and basic capability and competence. Children growing up in this society will loose their human sensitivity, tolerance, and any notion of wonder or amazement because of lack of play.
There cannot be progress or innovation without imagination, and if we let our kids play more, we can be confident that their future, and the future of the collective world, will be in better care.
