Personal Critique of Leisure Concepts - Assignment Example

LEISURE, PLAY AND CHILDREN Name Grade Course Tutor’s Name Date Reflective Study (Personal Critique) Week 9 – Leisure, Play And Children In the definition of leisure and recreation, children play, and games falls in the same category as recreational activities (Rivkin, 1995, p. 11). Childhood play and games influence the child’s mental physical and moral development. As per the United Nations regulations, it is a mandatory right for children to enjoy leisure activities. Leisure holds an intrinsic motivation enjoyment and freedom to the children. Children have developed an array of activities that qualify to be classed as leisure activities. Statistics show that apart from reading writing and arithmetic skills they learn in school, children acquire 95% of their skills through play and leisure activities. These activities have societal impact on the children lifestyle (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 57). However, parents have placed rules that restrict the freedom enjoyed by the child. Some parents restrict the child until the age of eight so that they can exercise this right. The parents have also gone ahead to restrict the children from undertaking other plays and activities such as riding a bike and playing in the street. In view, the parents’ bubble-wrap their children hence making them lock out on the early childhood fun (Garavelli 2007, par 1). These children are falling victim to the parents’ paranoia. The children are denied the independence to socialise and make new friends. This parental paranoia may result to production of mollycoddled young adults. Early childhood play enables the development of highly cooperative way of life. Psychologist Peter Gay highlights that play and leisure is a tool that assists to overcome tendencies toward aggression and dominance that would have hindered a cooperative society (Nauert 2009, par 2). In addition, play and games assist to enrich the child’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. This, in turn, assures the parent that the child wellness is catered. In the recent past, children were not under much supervision from the parents. The children would be allowed to go off on their bikes to play in far places such as gullies (Beach 2003, p 24). The only concern on many parents was that the child to be back home in time for meals hence they were strictly instructed to be back home for tea or lunch. The attitude that parents had in the olden days has changed drastically due to various reasons. Children have become vulnerable to insecurity with increased cases of paedophiles and children accidents. Parents have now resorted to take stern measures to keep the children safe. However, does this precautious measure hinder the freedom of leisure to the child? It is quite vivid that the parental care of today limits the child from pursuing social norms and interactions in-group pecking and expanding the friendship network. Their interacting are limited by parents taking up the responsibility to monitor all the moves the child takes in the neighbourhood (Churchill, et al. 2007, p. 279). The parent will offer to drop the child at the friend’s home and pick them up in the evening. Some parents have even lost trust with community and municipal playground and bow not to take their children there for recreational motivation. The parental protectiveness is also attributed to the sinister world of today where danger looms everywhere. This has contributed to a drop in the popularity of these leisure spots since the image of these facilities have been tainted by the increased cases of child molestation and kidnaps. Despite the looming danger at the playgrounds, the child left alone is at risk of bullies, drug dealers and heavy traffic on the road (Garavelli 2007, par 2). In addition, parents are exposed to cases that have happened in the recent past of children falling victim to similar circumstances. The emotional response from the parents on such matters putts more emphasis on the protectiveness of their children (Garavelli 2007, par 4). The advance of the city has also changed a lot of life style in many families. For instance, Sheena Fraser admits that long ago, she used to walk together with her sister to school since the town was a small village. Everyone even the shopkeeper knew them. Now that, the urban centre has grown, it is not easy to let her children walk out alone. “The city is full of strangers and makes the children liable to a lot of danger,” she concluded (Garavelli 2007, par 5). It is prudent that children security and safety be enhanced so as to enable children enjoy the benefits of leisure and recreation activities. Other parents have decided due to enrol their kids in adult-supervised leisure activities. This act is quite advantageous since it keeps the child in a constant peer relationship with few behaviour problems (Nauert 2009, par 11). Some of the activities the children under takes include; soccer, drama, crafts, scouts among others. This is seen as a more organised way in ensuring the child is involved in positive activities. Despite the change in lifestyle, there is also the aspect of social changes in today’s society. Having both parents working in the family it means that the child will have no or minimal time to enjoy the leisure time (Garavelli 2007, par 9). The children will have to stay in school and wait to be picked up by the parents in the evening. The only chance for the child to exercise his recreation time is during after school clubs and games. However, this still gives the child a small opportunity to interact with neighbours. Most of the children are left under the care of grannies and aunties who lock them indoors to avoid any complications with the parents. Critics believe that the parents deprive children this right to contain risk caused by germs and other minor injuries. Moreover, many organisations are now sensitizing parents to encourage their children participate in leisure and recreation activities (Churchill, et al. 2007, p. 276). They educate the parent on certain advice they should give the child when faced with danger at the playground. Some parents have so far gained confidence with the measures they have taken to equip the child from unwanted approaches by strangers. Allowing the child to play at the playground or out in the street will enable the child to learn valuable lessons. For instance, the child will be able to know different games, and injuries that come with aggressive playing. Despite the risks, the main lesson learnt at the playground is to make wise decisions when playing (Wellhousen, 2002, p. 101). Children should know games worth playing, those that are enjoyable and those that will lead them to better bigger things in the future. It is quite possible for children to start building sports carrier out of the playing ground. Parents who value the development of their children are now embracing the fact that play and leisure activities (Rivkin, 1995, p. 87). Parents ought to learn that depriving the child the freedom to indulge in recreation activity will certainly lead to a generation of individuals who lack exposure to the natural world. Furthermore, playgrounds are now fitted with safety surfacing to minimise accidents and injuries. The overprotection of the child always results to a difficult transition of this child from childhood to adulthood. Josephine confirms that her 18-year-old son had lots of difficulty in adjusting to independence issues such as seeing a doctor as well as meeting new people. The son always depends on her mother to introduce him to such a scenario. It is through social interaction that children learn the values and skills enable them to progress to adulthood (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 21). Whenever children are deprived the freedom to roam and interact, the repercussion affects the entire society. These implications are not only felt in the social life but also the health wise. This is implicated by the rise in cases of obesity in young kids (Philipson & Posner 2003, p. 94). Children are used to stay indoors and play video games and play stations. These children lack physical exercises to assist them burn body calories. Children should be allowed to have outdoor activities such as jogging, running and engaging in various physical activities at the young age. Parents should understand that the free time at the disposal of the child is a crucial mark for making decisions for the child (Bittman, 1998). Parents should assist children when they are making decisions that are inclined to the emerging values in life. Leisure weight control is a necessity for most children in the 21st century. This is part of the importance of play in a child development. In most cultures, globally the childhood period is perceived to be a learning process. Moreover, there is no better way for a child to learn other than through play and games (Rivkin, 1995, p. 87). The UN charter also recognises that play is a fundamental right to kids. The act of parents being overprotective and denying their children time for leisure then they are infringing the children’s Right as stated in UN’s charter principle 9. With these changing times, families should embrace family leisure activities. This family time together will enable the child break out of the usual indoor monotony (Bittman, 1998). Researches carried out shows that close to 38% of family fun times and recreational activities affect both individual development as well as social characteristic of the child (Zabriskie & McCormick 2001, p. 285). Even though, much emphasis is on the advocacy of leisure activities on children, the attitude toward these leisure activities by the same children should be evaluated. In most cases, children in the current generation have developed a negative attitude towards outdoor leisure activities. This is due to the notion implicated on them by their parents. Most children would rather use the free time to play with the new technological gadgets. They also feel comfortable socialising and interaction in social Medias rather than face-to-face interaction. The world should remain optimistic that time and resources available in the, modern world will transform the reality deemed on children’s leisure activities. References Beach, B A 2003, “Rural children's play in the natural environment”, in D. E. Lytle (ed), Play and educational theory and practice, Vol. 5, Praeger Publishers, Westport. Bittman, M 1998, ‘Social participation and family welfare: The money and time costs of leisure’, 6th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference. Melbourne. Bronfenbrenner, U 1979, The ecology of human development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Churchill, S L, Clark, V L P, Prochaska-Cue, K, Creswell, J W & Ontai-Grzebik, L 2007, ‘How rural low-income families have fun: A grounded theory study’, Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 39 no. 2, pp. 271-294. Garavelli, D 2007, ‘Over-protected childhood’, Viewpoint, viewed on 23rd October 2012, http://www.cyc-net.org/features/viewpoints/c-overprotectkids.html Nauert, R 2009, ‘Leisure Play Is Important for Human Collaboration’, Psychcentral, viewed on 23rd October 2012, http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/04/17/leisure-play-is-important-for-human-collaboration/5398.html Philipson, T J & Posner, R A 2003, ‘The long-run growth in obesity as a function of technological change’, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 46 no. 3, pp. 87-107. Rivkin, M. S. 1995, The great outdoors: Restoring children's right to play outside, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington, DC. Wellhousen, K 2002, Outdoor play every day: Innovative play concepts for early childhood, Delmar Thomson Learning, Albany, NY. Zabriskie, R B & McCormick, B P 2001, ‘The influences of family leisure patterns on perceptions of family functioning’, Family Relations, vol. 50 no. 3, pp. 281-289. Read More