Part two: overcoming the social isolation society has imposed on children. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Children are suffering today from too much adult structuring of their activities and not enough freedom to play and explore in their own chosen ways (for some of the evidence, see here, here, and here). […]
By Peter Gray, Ph.D. Part one: irrational societal fears can paralyze parents and harm children. Children are designed, by nature, to spend hours per day playing with other children, independently of adults. In such play they practice all sorts of physical and mental skills; discover and pursue their passions; and learn […]
Children can show clingy behaviour at any stage up to late primary school years. from shutterstock.com Many parents complain of difficulties in managing clingy children – whether it’s a baby who cries every time the parent is out of sight, a toddler who clings to their parent’s legs at social […]
Playing in nature improves children’s learning, social and emotional skills. MI PHAM/unsplash You may have heard of play. It’s that thing children do – the diverse range of unstructured, spontaneous activities and behaviours. Children play in many ways, including by exploring movements, constructing with equipment, creating games, using imagination and chasing others […]
Most anti-bullying programs available to schools haven’t been evaluated for effectiveness. from shutterstock.com School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs and campaigns in Australia and internationally have vowed to stamp out bullying. The schools’ intentions are good, but often these programs […]
I’m asking for your ideas about how to make real play possible for kids again. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Children are designed, by nature, to play with other children independently of adults. Generally, the best place for them to play is outdoors, partly for the fresh air, vigorous […]
For most people human rights have increased, but for children they have shrunk. By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn We’ve made progress in many realms of civil rights over the past decades in the U.S. The rights of African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, and handicapped people have expanded, thanks […]
Endurance just before it sank: Crushed at the stern, it went down bow first RGS Antarctic scientists seeking to locate the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, the Endurance, have arrived at the search site. The team broke through thick pack-ice on Sunday to reach the vessel’s last known […]
Endurance just before it sank: Crushed at the stern, it went down bow first RGS Shackleton’s extraordinary escape from this loss, saving his crew, means there is considerable interest in finding the wreck. Endurance should be resting on the ocean floor, some 3,000m down. The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 team wants […]
By Peter Gray Ph.D. Freedom to Learn Monitoring, structuring, and protecting reduce children’s activity and health. Most of my writing about children’s free play has been about the mental health benefits (e.g. here), but in this essay I’m concerned with the physical health benefits. Children are designed, by nature, to play often in physically vigorous ways. That […]