BC Council for Families

by David Sheftel
Program Coordinator

Here's something we hear a lot these days: kids need to play outdoors more.  But what about children who don't live in safe neighborhoods?  What about children from economically disadvantaged families,  whose parents must spend long hours working just to ensure the day-to-day survival of the family, and who may be to exhausted, or too stressed, to play with them or to supervise their playtime?

In a new report published in the journal Pediatrics, authors Regina Milteer and Kenneth Ginsburg recognize that the complex interplay of social, economic and cultural factors underpinning the gradual disappearance of playtime from children's lives defies easy solutions, but they warn that solutions need to be found fast, as children in low-income families are being left at risk of missing important learning and development that happens only through play.

Play, both the structured kind and the creative, unstructured unvariety, is critical to children's healthy development of mind, body and social competence. During play within the family, understanding and bonding between parents and children is deepened; as well, play helps children learn to negotiate and resolve conflicts with their peers, leading to important lessons in empathy and cooperation.  Yet, as Milteer and Ginsburg point out in The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty, in our society's drive to ensure and increase academic success across the socio-economic spectrum, playtime is too often sacrificed in favour of more formal educational encounters

Three main risk factors are cited as having the greatest impact on children living in poverty:

• Reduced access to recess and other in-school creative and physical activities, as well as after-school programs in art, music and physical education
• Reduced out-of-school play opportunities due to a lack of safe parks and playgrounds
• Parents dealing with increased stress and work time, and having less opportunities to provide active playtime outside or inside the home environment

A number of recommendations for pediatricians, parents and policy makers are included in the report, with the hope of encouraging systemic change to support more play opportunities in schools, communities and families.
The authors of the report contend that this change is critical to the health of children and families and the future of our society.

The study concludes that: "Regardless of their socioeconomic status, all children have the right to safe places to play regularly, during which they develop cognitive, communication, problem-solving, negotiation, and leadership skills. They have the right to engage in safe and regular physical activity that will decrease the incidence of lifelong health disparities. The physically and emotionally healthy children of today will become the productive citizens who will contribute positively to society in the future."