Where Do the Children Play?

This film might be of interest to educators. What do you think? Are our kids lives too structured?

Documentary Film on Modern Childhood Asks `Where Do the Children Play?'
Holderness, NH-A new documentary film, Where Do the Children Play?, examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators, and environmentalists: more and more children are growing up today with little or no opportunity for unstructured play, especially outdoors.

The film will be shown at a free public screening at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center on Sunday, July 27 at 7:00 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Science Center and the Sandwich Children's Center, with assistance from the U.S. Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit research and advocacy group that works for the restoration of play in children's lives.

Where Do the Children Play? grew out of Elizabeth Goodenough's work on "secret spaces of childhood" at the University of Michigan. The film was written and directed by Christopher Cook and produced by Michigan Television.

"Children need free time every day to discover their own abilities, desires, and limitations," says Goodenough, who also edited the film's accompanying study guide. "Open-ended exploration and play in woods, fields, vacant lots, or other semi-wild spaces enhances curiosity and confidence throughout life."

A marked decline in children's spontaneous and creative play is a key factor in their increasing mental health problems, according to a recent statement from an international group of educators and children's advocates. They called for "a wide-ranging and informed public dialogue about the intrinsic nature and value of play in children's healthy development."

Their letter echoed a recent warning from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): children have far too little time for unstructured play, which leads to increased stress in their lives. Causes of the demise of play cited by the group include parental fears of "stranger danger" and the explosion of electronic entertainment-to the point of addiction for some-in the lives of today's children. These and other issues are explored in the film.

The lead author of the AAP report, Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, appears in the documentary, along with Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, British "playworker" Penny Wilson, and other experts in child development, psychology, and urban planning.

Most striking, however, are the scenes of children themselves engaged in the rapt state of self-directed play and then talking about the importance of time and opportunity for free play in their increasingly hectic lives.

For more information about this screening of Where Do the Children Play? call the Science Center at 603-968-7194. The film is free to attend, but please call to put your name on the list