Parents who hover over their children, undermining their chances of engaging in unstructured play, could be doing them more harm than good, Peter Gray writes in the American Journal of Play. Gray and a team of experts have written a series of articles on how free play has become nearly extinct, and its impact on children and society.

Guest Editor Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College, said:

“Remarkably, over the last 50 years, opportunities for children to play freely have declined continuously and dramatically in the United States and other developed nations; and that decline continues, with serious negative consequences for children’s physical, mental, and social development.

This special issue of the American Journal of Play reviews the evidence for the crucial roles of play in children’s development and proposes ways we may create a world in which play – especially free outdoor play with other children’s is once again a normative part of childhood.”

Gray gathered data from several studies that showed an association between the decline of free play opportunities for children in industrialized nations, and an increase in the incidence of narcissism, feelings of helplessness, depressions and suicide in children, teenagers, and young adults.

Gray explains that segregating children into same-age groups, a common practice in school yards and classrooms these day, may not be ideal for the development of a child.

He writes that older children, with their higher levels of skills, provide the younger children with “scaffolds” that increase the levels at which their younger counterparts play, thus stretching their abilities.

He quotes other research in which the older children were seen getting the younger ones to become engaged in more complex concepts of sociability, literacy and math.

Author of Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children, and Estroff Marano, former editor in Chief of the journal say parents are over-organizing sports and being far too protective. They also accuse the media of exaggerating stranger danger. They discuss the appeal of video games and social media websites, which have contributed significantly to the decline in free play today.

If children do not take part in outdoor play, they are more likely to become overweight, suffer from health problems, and have poorly developed social skills, they add.

Written by Peter LaFreniere, Psychology Professor, University of Maine. He examined previous studies on free play from the perspective of an evolutionary biologist. Evolved patterns of play help kids promote cardiovascular fitness, develop strong muscles and bones, enhance their communication skills, as well as developing their emotional regulation and perspective talking.

Written by Grace Rattue