So, there is an article in the Times about Howard P. Chudacoff’s book “Children at Play: An American History” and a subsequent blog entry asking whether or not you agree with his theory that organized activities, overscheduling and excessive amounts of homework are crowding out free time and constricting children’s imaginations and social skills. A lot people’s comments on the blog are laments about “gone are the days of my childhood when we could roam free through the neighborhood, only to be back by dinner.” Facing raising Jack in a pretty urban environment I see how that isn’t going to happen here and it makes me a bit sad. At the same time, there’s little I can do (short of moving away to what are likely very few towns that still have that “feeling” of freedom and safety). The article (and thus the book I haven’t read) also talked a lot about how so many of today’s toys have prescribed “backstories” because they are associated with a TV program or a movie. The author proposed the theory that todays kids have difficutlties allowing for imaginative play because the story is pretty much handed to them. I thought that was pretty interesting and probably true, which makes me even more sad.
