Sample Op-Ed: Modern Problems, Old-Fashioned Solution
 
You can hardly turn on the news anymore without hearing about another problem facing our kids. Study after study shows something is desperately wrong with how children are growing up today.  But research shows that an increase in play opportunities for children could help solve critical problems facing our children such as childhood obesity, youth crime and underachievement in school.  However if we do not choose to take action today, the continued decline in play opportunities will exacerbate these problems.

Right now, 15 percent of all children and almost a quarter of black and Latino children are overweight. The average kindergarten student has watched more than 5,000 hours of TV by the age of five. Seventy-eight percent of children say they are “stressed” sometimes or often. Children spend 50 percent more time studying than they did 20 years ago. 

For many of these challenges, the solution is as old-fashioned as chicken soup for a cold. Our kids need to be kids. Our kids need more time and space to play – in an unstructured, spontaneous, self-motivated way. Not another soccer drill or adult-organized activity. Not more technology, but less. Rarely is the answer so simple, or so fun. 

Most of the best times in childhood are spent in play. Digging a hole to China. Building a fort out of tree limbs and sheets. Teeter-tottering, swinging and sliding on the neighborhood playground.  Sledding on a cardboard box. Putting a shirt and tie on the family dog. Spinning around for no particular reason.

As carefree and frivolous as play may sound, play is serious business when it comes to children’s physical, academic and social development. In one study, fourth graders were more focused on their tasks and less fidgety in the classroom on the days when they had recess. Active, rough-and-tumble play has been shown to help children develop motor skills, and the exercise it provides prevents obesity and other health risks related to inactivity. And playtime is essential for learning the social skills children need as adults: sharing, cooperating, resolving conflicts without adult intervention, and dealing with emotions like anger and being upset.

What’s stopping kids from playing, something that should come so naturally? In a recent Harris Interactive poll of pediatricians, almost all (97 percent) said time in front of a computer or television contributed to the decline of unstructured play. Other reasons included the rise in organized sports and activities (75 percent); lack of quality playspaces within walking distance of children’s homes (50 percent); and reduction in school recess time (44 percent). The good news is that removing the barriers to play is entirely within a community’s control. 

President Theodore Roosevelt said it best almost 100 years ago:  “Since play is a fundamental need, playgrounds should be provided for every child as much as schools. This means that they must be distributed over the cities in such a way as to be within walking distance of every boy and girl...”  In addition, in 1989, the United Nations declared the rights of the child to include: “The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation...”. 

Today is the day to take a stand for all our children across North America.  Today is the day to bring play back into the lives of our youth.  Collectively, we can create a playful nation where all children have the opportunity to play within walking distance of their homes and schools.