When Technology Replaces Playgrounds

For years school equipment has been taken off playgrounds because they have become a hazard for children. In order to avoid any type of liability or injury, schools have decided to opt for a safer playing environment for their students. In addition they have also limited the time that children have for recess. Schools and parents have been trying to protect their children from any type of serious injury when they play. In the article “Why Some Risky Play is Necessary for Kids”, Valerie Strauss speaks on how playing without restrictions allows for healthy physical and mental development for children. What happens to the mental and physical health of infants and small children when their playgrounds are replaced with laptops, smartphones, iPads and tablets?

Educators, teachers and parents have been working to put together the best educational experience for their children. One of the topics that I experienced first hand when I was in kindergarten was playing safe at recess. I remember seeing yellow tape on one of the tall monkey bar structures in the sand pit of my schools play area. One kid got all the way to the top of the monkey bars, lost his balance, fell straight to the bottom and cracked his head open. The monkey bars had to be taken down and replaced with something more safe for students to play on. This was a tragic accident that left parents and teachers in fear for their children’s safety, anyone could understand. Now as the years have passed, you rarely see monkey bars in playgrounds anymore.

Schools have been making every effort to create a safe environment for children but, in the article “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?”, John Tierney states that getting rid of playground equipment and enacting a sort of “safe play protocol” in schools is harming children instead of keeping them safe. He says that children develop character and confidence when they are left alone to discover or face a fear. Tierney references professor of psychology Ellen Sandseter who says, “Children need to encounter risks and overcome fears on the playground.” She also adds, “I think monkey bars and tall slides are great. As playgrounds become more and more boring, these are some of the few features that still can give children thrilling experiences with heights and high speed.” In this statement Sandseter is saying that by playing on these structures children are developing good proprioception.

Proprioception is how your mind pictures you moving in space. In order to develop this proprioception you have to challenge yourself to move and make a connection with the world around you by using your five senses. You can see it in children when they play. When you see groups of children climbing the monkey bars, going down the slide or being spun on the carousal they are developing a stronger proprioception. They are making a connection between their mind and body by challenging their strength, eyesight, and vestibular system (the body’s balance system). Professor Ellen Sandseter says, “The best thing is to let children encounter these challenges from an early age, and they will then progressively learn to master them through their play over the years.”

The part that technology plays in this situation. Teachers and parents are telling their kids to be careful because they will get hurt if they climb too high or if they spin too fast. They will however allow laptops, iPads, and tablets to replace composition books and they give their children mobile devices of their own. Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2010, is now the generation to be born and brought up with technology. “Generation Z is the first generation to be raised in the era of smartphones,” Alex Williams states in his article “Move Over Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z.” This means that the next generation is going to be the one that influences the future with technology by it’s side.

Technology is now a part of who we are, it truly is. Now you have infants being entertained by interactive games on iPad’s or watching Netflix. Children know how to operate the latest iPhone model after watching their parents do it so many times. School districts are slowly trying to incorporate mobile devices for children in the classroom as a way for lessons to be more “student driven”, without realizing that students could be affected just as much if not more than they would on the playground. By a child sitting down for hours at time with his eyes focused on an led screen, their physical and mental health can be jeopardized. A child that is not moving is not making the necessary connections that is needed to develop strength, balance, focus and motor skills.