Take The Pressure Off The Kids: It Is Essential For Kids To Play

This is what is obtainable today.

Being a child nowadays is definitely different from what it was some 20 to 30 years ago. Kids today are faced with many pressures that rob them of the joys of childhood. The major source of this pressure is the school.

It is not surprising to find a child of barely 2 years old being enrolled in nursery 1(not daycare!). These kids get into school so early and then begin a life of pressures, pressure to perform. Cool as it may seem to tell your friend 'my 2yr old daughter is already in nursery 1'. It is not cool at all. 

I would like to paint a scenario to aid what I’m about to talk about.

Olu and David are brothers. David is 6 years old and Olu is a little above 4 years old. The two brothers are calling themselves out to play.
'Olu, let’s go and play with Mike at the backyard.' David calls out to his brother.
'Ok. Let’s build paper aeroplane and fly' Olu replies enthusiastically as he runs towards the back door.
'No, let's build a house with the sand' David suggests
'No, me I will build my aeroplane' Olu insists
'Ok. Fine, we’ll do whatever you want' David replies
They both run out to meet Mike who is waiting for them with a paper kite in his hands.
As they barely get out of the house, Mummy who is doing the dishes in the kitchen calls out
'David, where are you going with Olu?'
'Mummy, we want to play outside' David replies
'Play? Come on, get back inside and read your books' Mummy is already angry at the thought
'But mummy we have finished our homework already' Olu protests
'I said get back inside!' Mummy insists
They both reluctantly get back inside the house.

Mummy thinks to herself
'These kids are too playful. So they have time to play around. How will they pass their exams? I need to enroll them for extra lessons to keep them busy and serious with their studies' 


 
 
When I was in primary school, we only spent about six hours in school but nowadays, kids spend up to eight hours in school and may even take extra lessons after school. Then the child comes home with much homework that he must submit the next day. All these rob the child of an essential part of growing up - free time to play. Yeah, you heard me right, play. 
 
Children need to play as it is very important for their development. Play opens doors for creativity among children where they learn to use their power of imagination. It also helps them to develop good social skills because most plays involve other kids and requires group cooperation to make them interesting. Children also learn to take risks and think for themselves as they play.

It is sad that most primary schools today rarely have playgrounds and even if they do, the break time is too short for kids to engage in any meaningful play. And after the normal school hours, they are engaged in extra lessons again.
Ok. Let’s say it's the school's fault. But the parents are not helping either just like in the scenario above. When kids come home on holiday and are supposed to have their time to play, they are enrolled for holiday lessons and so the cycle continues. The child may be doing well at school but he/she is being robbed of an essential part of his/her childhood and it is definitely going to affect him in future.

The irony of this trend is that it does not make the kids of today anymore better than the kids from 20 years ago.

Inasmuch as you want your child to succeed in life, learn to take things in stages and keep the pressures at a distance. Any good and right thinking child would also feel the urge to want to succeed when the time comes.
My neighbor's child who is in primary school plays a lot but he still does very well in school. The boy is very smart. His dad encourages him to use his free time to engage in activities that he enjoys while making sure that he does his homework too. Pushing kids to succeed may be counter-productive. It is not advisable to make a child solve mathematics or do only school work all day long. School has its place and so does play.
 
Let's give childhood back to the children and let them develop normally. Remember your own time as a kid when you played a lot with your friends (running around the house, playing hide and seek, flying paper kites and building mud houses) and still did well in school. At least I did well and so did most of my friends because we all passed our entrance exam into secondary school and continued to do well.

We can't deny the fact that play is part of childhood. It makes them balanced individuals. If you deprive them of it, they will be missing a crucial part of what makes them children. There are cases of children getting depressed because of being forced to mature too quickly due to pressure and many of them become unbalanced individuals. So, I reiterate, let the kids play!