WAKEFIELD — On Wednesday, October 26 Wakefield Parent University welcomed Boston College’s Dr. Peter Gray to speak on the “Power of Play.” The second of three fall Parent University series featured Gray and a panel of local educators and experts focused on the importance of free play being crucial in childhood development.
Over 100 parents, caregivers, and educators attended the session facilitated by Walton Elementary School Principal Brian Schmitt.
Dr. Gray stated that one of the reasons rates of anxiety amongst children and adolescents have increased over the years is a result of children losing play time, walking to school by themselves, part-time jobs, and other independent endeavors which allow them to gain confidence and internal locus of control. Dr. Gray acknowledged we often perceive play as unstructured but it is anything but. “Play is always structured, it’s structured by the players themselves.” Dr. Gray pointed out, “It’s where children learn to create the structures within their world. Play is where children learn to cope with the real world.” Dr. Gray, the author of acclaimed book Free to Learn, stated that through play, kids deliberately put themselves in risky situations. This allows them to develop courage, so when a real emergency happens, they don’t fall apart from it. Another key discussion point in Gray’s lecture was that multiple studies have shown a large decline in creativity in children since 1984. He attributes this loss to decrease in recess time, more standardized tests, and increased structured activities. He stated, “with the development of Artificial Intelligence, developing our creativity is crucial. In our society today, we need creative people more than ever before. We don’t need people to come up with questions that are already answered.” Children also learn crucial organizational skills through free play. Dr. Gray discussed how 40 years ago children were organizing pick up baseball games in the park with mixed age groups, now they are participating in age level baseball where adults are making all of the decisions.
Finally, Dr. Gray pointed out is the most important thing children learn in play is how to get along with other people. They have to learn about it through experience, and that experience is play without an authority figure solving problems. Wakefield Public School’s Brendan Kent and Beiker stated that this is something they emphasize in Wakefield’s elementary physical education classes.
Amy Chiaravalloti, Wakefield Health & Human Services Prevention and Wellness Coordinator worked with the Parent University Planning team to organize this event. “We heard from a lot of parents after Parent University in the Spring that they wanted to hear more about the health and wellness curriculum in our elementary schools. There is an emphasis on social emotional health in elementary schools in Wakefield and we felt that Dr. Gray’s message about the importance of play helped to reiterate the importance of allowing kids to be kids. With more play and creativity, we will see less struggles with anxiety and depression among our youth. Wakefield Public Schools does a great job of giving kids the opportunity to learn through creative play.” Wakefield Academy Director Estelle Burdick stated, “Wakefield Academy’s mission is to create a space where our students are able to build their social and emotional skills. We have worked hard to ensure students have the time to do the work of childhood by playing and engaging with each other daily. We have an outside play block where the children choose their activities, play on structures, and create games. Additionally, we have indoor centers where students rotate through games, coloring/drawing, building stations, and other play-based activities.”
For more information about Wakefield Parent University, including our next event Screenagers Under the Influence November 28th at The Savings Bank Theater, please visit: sites.google.com/site/wpsparentuniversity/