Play In Children's Lives - Essay Example

Part One Games are a source of recreational activities for children all over the world. Although different games have evolved which are specific to aparticular culture, the essence of the games remains the same: recreation. Play is the work of a child and children start playing rule games by the age of five; their interaction with each other enables them to develop better communication skills, develop an understanding of the world around them and find a niche where they fit in the society. One of the games in USA that children commonly play is the ‘Cops and Robbers’. It is also known as the Chase or Police and Thieves. The participants of the game are split in two teams. One team is the Cops or the Police- the good guys; the second team is the thieves- the bad guys. The cops chase the robbers and put them into a prison or jail. The robbers can not break free from the prison by themselves. Only a fellow thief can come and rescue the jailed robber by tagging him/her, while being vigilant about the police and trying that it does not catch them. The teams switch roles when all the robbers have been jailed. In a slightly modified version of the game, the robbers are given a few minutes margin before the chase begins. Both sides often use toy guns and assume a language and other artifacts that relate them to their role. Bimbo is another game that us popular amongst children, especially in Italy. The two main roles in the game are that of Bimbo (the leader) and the players who are chased. The players stand in two files facing each other, five yards apart, with their hands facing upwards behind their backs. The Bimbo has two leaves with him, and he struts behind the lines, discreetly placing the leaves in the hands of any two players, one from each line. Then he suddenly shouts “Stop! Thief! Lucky Leaf!” and that is the cue for the two players who are in possession of the leaves to run to the opposite side, avoiding being caught by the Bimbo (Cagel, 2010). These two players then pass the leaves to another two players who run across the play area to the opposite line and so on, while the Bimbo tries to catch them. If the Bimbo catches any person who has the leaf, then that person is the new Bimbo. Both Cops and Robbers and Bimbo are outdoor games and the theme of the game remains the same: the thrill of chase. The games are similar in the respect that there are two different roles that the participants are split into, and both games can involve a large group of children. The concept of assuming a pretended identity is synonymous in both games, accentuating the aspect of dramatization. Most importantly, both games are chase games, involving activities like chasing, dodging, running and passing and encourage competitiveness, better communication and skills in the participants. Part Two “How the tortoise became bald” This story is about a tortoise who gets lured by the prospect of food and the events that ultimately led to him losing all his hair. Although it is a simple story, and I never pondered over the meaning hidden behind it when I was young, I realize now that the fable has a much deeper meaning than just serving as a recreational source. The most significant meson embedded in the story is that greed is a great evil. The story delineates how the tortoise became greedy and decided to eat all the porridge. I realized that greed is not just one evil the tortoise did. Rather, in the process of acquiring the porridge, he lied to the dog and sends the family to the king’s palace. Also, he tried stealing the porridge and, at not finding a suitable utensil to pour it in, he filled his cap with the porridge. He has to cover up for his lie and greed by making up excuses to the dogs and was punished consequently by complete loss of hair forever. Thus, in order to cover up for one bad act, for which he was solely responsible, the tortoise had to speak many lies and in the end gained nothing but humiliation. Greed robs a person of humanistic traits as Tickle writes in his book, “As the Sikh holy book Adi Granth asks: "Where there is greed, what love can there be?”(2006) Therefore I realized that one should stay aloof from indulging in any bad act, otherwise that sets off a domino effect and can lead to dire consequences. Furthermore, the pleasant insistence of the dogs to the tortoise to eat the porridge with them reflects on the hospitality and selflessness of the dogs, and is a lesson for everyone to be hospitable and kind to people. “The three brothers and the pot of porridge” The story revolves around the characters of three brothers and an old woman. The brothers were on a journey and needed abode for the night. They found a hut belonging to an old woman, who conceded at letting them stay in the hut for the night and offered them food to eat, which the brothers declined as not to cause her undue trouble. The woman’s generosity and kind-heartedness to share food with strangers, despite the fact that it was only sufficient for one person, highlights the importance of selflessness and is a lesson I found very thought-provoking. In the story, during the night, the youngest brother felt hungry and ate all the porridge, covering up his mistake by filling up the pot with stones. The next day when the woman found out and confronted the brothers about who ate the porridge, the youngest brother did not admit his mistake; when crossing the river by walking on a wooden log, reciting a poem loudly which meant that whoever is guilty will fall into the river, the third brother felt very scared and fell into the river. The lesson I gained from this story is the significance of being honest, as the famous maxim says that honesty is the best policy. If one is guilty of a crime, he can never be confident and the truth will surface sooner or later. Applying this to my life, I feel that my parents were trying to emphasize on me the importance of being truthful and honest that will always help me feel confident and be successful no matter what trial comes my way. Part Three This excerpt from ltabari Njeri’s ‘Whats in a Name?’ instantly captured my attention. As I read through the excerpt, I could feel Njeri’s struggle to be identified with her true roots, without any racial stereotypes. First of all, I was moved by Njeri’s courage and passion to her cause. Her strength in the face of all sorts of criticism leveled at her, both from Whites and Blacks, and her persistence in not giving up shows her obsession with the African-American cause and the importance of a name in her life. The excerpt has made me realize the significance of identity and ancestral lineage for the Blacks, who had had spent centuries suppressed and exploited by the Whites. The author writes how people reacted when they heard her original African name, not caring the affront that they were leveling at her. Sensitized to discriminatory and racial attitudes that the Blacks had been dealing with since time immemorial, and the commercial value of slaves (Horton & Horton 2005), Njeri tries to shakes them off and find a niche in the society, where she is recognized as a descendant of the African culture, although born in USA. I did not know that the Blacks had changed their names in order to mould in more easily in the American society. Therefore, the fact that Njeri legalized her African name and took a stand for her slave name illustrates the African identity that she wants to be recognized with, unlike the many millions of Blacks who made efforts to shun off the mark of the Black stereotype by changing their names. She discusses how many Blacks have forgotten their culture and considers many American traditions as African derivatives hurt Njeri, thus reinforcing the significance of identity in her life. Lastly, the excerpt gives an account of Njeri’s encounter with an old woman. I found this the most beautiful part of the excerpt, because for the first time, an African acknowledged her bond with her, calling her as someone ‘from the lost tribe’. The woman did not even ask Njeri her name, and did not base any stereotypes. The spontaneous nature of her comments reflects the shared bond that she felt with Njeri. At this point, I could imagine the triumph and pride that surged in Njeri- a reward of her patience: being recognized for who she was… Part Four The excerpt touched me. A woman’s struggle to find happiness, in a place that stifles her very existence and prevents her from following her will, is indeed inspiring. One thing I acutely came to observe was the life of families living in communal families. I have also lived in joint families, and I am aware that, in Muslim culture especially, family values are deeply imbued in the lifestyle and conduct of the community members, intend perhaps to maintain household solidarity (Souvatzi 2008). The concept of having an independent house is often considered very selfish and ungrateful attitude of the people towards their elderly parents. The life that the author portrays reflects how certain orthodox principles dictated the lives of everyone part of the family. The passage has given me an insight into the lives of these people. I did not know that it was considered snacks in between meals were not permitted, and one could not open the refrigerator to eat anything. There were so many restrictions on eating, with separate tables for people with authority, children, and domestics. Missing a meal was considered highly appropriate and individualistic to boot. One did not have the liberty to eat whenever he felt like it. Also, at the table, if one did not like the meal, there was no choice of having it substituted for something else. Also, the narrator’s mother did not have the liberty to cook dinners and lunches, and so she used to cook at nights. The criticism that she faced for cooking breakfasts also depicts the lack of liberalization in communal households. One of the facts of life that the passage made me realize was the extent people would go for a few moments of pure happiness and bliss. How the narrator’s parents made efforts to spend the night on the terrace portrays the conservationist attitude existing in shared households. The frustration that the many people felt in shared settings is represented by the narrator’s mother’s outbursts and her insistence to the narrator to keep searching for happiness. A lot of family members broke away too from the household, looking for an alternative to communal households (Trimberger 2005). As the narrator relates, the orthodox nature of these rules led to her mother feeling discontent most of the time, with very occasional moments of 100% happiness like their moonlit nights on the terrace. The dissatisfaction of the narrator’s mother at the communal household makes her wish for a better future for her daughters: a future with 100% happiness, nothing more, nothing less. References Cagel, A. (2010). Children’s Games in Italy. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6098868_children_s-games-italy.html Horton, J. O. & Horton, L. E., 2005. Slavery and the making of America. New York: Oxford University Press US. Souvatzi, S. G., 2008. A social archaeology of households in Neolithic Greece: an anthropological approach. New York: Cambridge University Press. Tickle, P., 2006. Greed: The Seven Deadly Sins. New York: Oxford University Press US. Trimberger, E. K., 2005. The new single woman. Massachusetts: Beacon Press. Read More