I think it's also important that you can play at work. You make play part of your routine. It makes you more creative, more resilient and better at solving problems
This should be required viewing for any teacher, parent, or caretaker of children. Peter Gray highlights the importance of a critical need of children that is not being met.
Talk to a home-schooler. I was home-schooled and we were much more relaxed, we played every chance we got and it was okay to go over our break time. I never had homework and no stress of assignments. I also developed a closer relationship with my parents and siblings than a lot of kids I see these days, I did however, have friends because of groups of other home-schooler's getting together at the park to play games and the mums to discuss life. I am now at uni studying to be a teacher because I want other kids to be given the opportunity to learn the way I did, and still be successful.
I'm glad you had that kind of experience with homeschooling. I, for one, did not - at least not for those last 5-6 years. Seventh through twelfth grade was all distance learning. What "distance learning" meant was seeing a teacher on a screen read the book, pausing the tape to write down everything he or she said, reading the book, then answering question about the book. This took 10-14 hours a day for 4-5 core subjects. Yes, the long term effects are horrendous. I recently took a computerized speed reading test where I scored low because I read every word twice!
Thank you for sharing your experience, @@lowyieldforeffort6996. Researching homeschooling options matters, as you are making evident. Not all options are the same
Patricia, i believe you. It is sad to be in a situation where people do not value play, not even when the child improves markedly in front of their eyes, their values are so strong. Their 'disdain' towards play... is incredibly destructive of their own child(in this case) and thus of their own life. Difficult to watch this happen, and feel powerless to change the culture... are we powerless to change the culture?!
I love this message. I am a proud parent of a kid who plays. Every day after school my 10 year old son and a group of boys ages 6-12 run, bike, skateboard, climb trees, play basketball, and football, all over our neighborhood, most nights until after dark. They make up their own games, negotiate, solve problems, learn how to get along without adults, and create elaborate adventures with their toy light sabers or just use sticks and cardboard boxes. When we first moved to the neighborhood, all my son wanted to do was sit at the computer and play mine craft. The boys kept ringing the doorbell asking him to play and eventually he started joining in. Now he cant wait to do his homework so he can get out there and PLAY. It only takes one parent to start a change in the neighborhood. In my case, the. Neighbor across the street had two boys and they had limited time on the computer and video games ("house rules." )So they were always outside. It forced me to think about my choices for my son and how he wasn't growing up runnning around the neighborhood with friends like how I did. And now he is. He still plays a lot of Mine craft but he has hours of unsupervised creative play.
He's right on. And during the same period, many children are doing poorly at school. They need more undirected free-play time, outdoors in nature. We need to get back to "reality" as a society and stop thinking of our children as little commodities.
Totally agree with this. When I was a kid, I could play on my street for a year or two, but then everyone paved their front gardens and there were so many cars coming and going it just wasn't safe. I couldn't go to the park because my parents were scared I'd be kidnapped. So all I was really allowed to do was go to my friends house and watch tv. I was brought up in the suburbs so I can only imagine what it's like for kids in the city. My boyfriend had an idyllic childhood in the countryside - adventures, building things, space to run around and trees to fall out of. He had no idea how lucky he was until we compared notes. As for school - why the hell do children get given homework? Isn't it bad enough they're caged in a classroom for 7 hours already? what purpose does homework serve? People say school is good for socialising children but really, with class, extra curriculars and homework, when do they actually get to socialise? Makes me want to homeschool when I have kids.
I grew up in a big city in China with 2 millions population, and I had a lot of free play outside. The key I think is that our condo buildings (8 floors tall and probably 1000s residents in them) were built as a quad with a big yard in the center. Buildings facing the streets surround our common space and keep us from the outside traffic and noise. So Essentially each block is a community with its own recreational open space. Sure it’s not comparable to the country side and wide life, but we did have lots of pretend play, group play, sports, negotiations, fights, and later on wandering around the city by public transportation my ourselves. My parents would let me play after school until dark, and if needed they would get to the balcony and shout out to me. I’m raising kids in a suburb in the US and it’s depressing. Kids can’t get anywhere without parents driving them around. The nice facilities are all presentation. People are so isolated from each other in the name of “privacy”.
@@BradJSuccess oh man sorry dude :( I was lucky my best friend growing up literally lived 10 houses down the road in our cul-de-sac so i could walk there in 20 seconds
I am a child, 12 nearly 13 in secondary school, year 8 (English Education System). A lot of the time, even right now I feel physically sick when I think about school and homework. I talked to my friends and they said they feel that way too. I don't understand how they think this is a good educational system if children, children are sick with worry about school. I will say that I did grow up protected and wasn't aloud to play "out" much but that was because my dad was in the police for a while and helped with murderers even of one of a little girl so. But when need a system when children look forward too school instead of think the only good thing is your friends which is how I feel. This is alll coming from a child who is twelve years of age and is within the educational system right now. One last thing we have much less "creative" lessons than maths and English etc. Even then lessons like art are very controlled and seam boring sometimes.
As a parent and as a manager of people in my job, I see this as such an important topic. Perhaps the only thing not mentioned in the video is the importance of unstructured play probably never goes away. Adults in our work spaces and in our everyday lives need to carve out time to have unstructured play especially in roles that require creativity and abstract thinking.
Agreed. I'm a designer and at my last job, I was told that I am 'too creative' and have 'too many ideas' Why on earth hire creatives and build entire creative teams if you don't want them to create?? Nothing is more dangerous to a professional creative than being put in tight little box with your wings clipped like some kind of battery hen - no good creative work comes from restrictive environments. If only more people were as forward thinking as you and Dr Gray.
Thinking this general attitude needs to extend into adulthood. And I mean general because as adults we tend to want to quantify everything which ironically can take away from the big picture and turn even this concept upside down/defeat the purpose with perfectionism. It's another antidote to neurotic ambition and ironically can increase ambitious results
Steven Pinker (the most famous living psychologist - prior to Jordan Peterson, at least, plus his fame is actually due to his work in his field) wrote the praise for his book.
They want more school hours, they say extracurriculars are needed for college application and they want every 16 year old to have an after school job, get home and eat dinner at 9pm and do homework for 6 hours followed by 4 hours sleep so they can get be back in school by 8am. Why are they doing this? Because they want to train the next generation to be good little worker drones who think it's normal to work 14 hours per day.
You Sound Like A Commune Living, Hippie Socialist. You Sound Like Carl Skinner When He Would Ramble Similar Karl Marx Like Nonsense (He Wouldn't Know That It Was Karl Marx Like, But He'd Ramble It Nonetheless). Are You Carl Skinner? (There Are Workers And Then There Are Those That Oversee Workers. I Fall In The Latter Category.)
PeeGee BeeDee So will making the kids work and study all day and never giving them time to play or rest turn them into good little capitalists or good little slaves?
Well maybe you should tell your dad that play is important and Don’t you tell me to shut up you like did last time when was I child. Don’t allow anyone even your parents to tell you to shut up.
Saw a toy company share this vid and has me thinking about the lack of play and unstructured time kids have nowadays. It’s fundamental for childhood. Adults too, overly structured now and no time for off time.
I had a vague intuition that I was sending my daughter to school that was not only ineffective but also destructive for her capacity to learn and her growth as a whole human. Dr Gray's and John Gatto's books have helped me clarify those intuitions. With Dr Gray, the clarification is coming from a scientific and evolutionary perspective. With Gatto, it is from an experiential, analytical, and free associating perspective. These books have been very helpful for my family and especially my children. I'll be homeschooling from now on. I will also be doing everything that I can to limit the power of sociopathic mega institutions, particularly the schooling organizations, whose goals are, from what I can gather, 1. to grow indefinitely and 2. to homogenize the population so that it is predictable for industry.
We've made such a hostile world where free outdoor play is nearly impossible, and I still see adults wondering why so many kids play videogames so often. It's the closest thing kids these days have to self-direct social play. What did you expect to happen when, every time they wanted to go out and play, you say, "no, you can't because you have too much homework/you have to go to this extracurricular activity I signed you up for/it's too dangerous out/I need to watch you and I don't have time to"? Videogames are they only thing they CAN do and adults still want to take it away because they see it as a waste of time, not an attempt at having fun and trying to connect with their friends when all other ways of doing so are blocked. We're suffocating our children. Many kids I know would much rather spend time outside running around than sitting inside playing videogames, but we've made it unappealing and hard to do so. And for what? We know our society is screwed up when parents are stressing about their children's future careers before they've even entered high school.
Absolutely true. And I have even heard that parents work extremely hard to get their children into highly coveted college-prep pre-schools....Unbelievable.
Vow. Amazing! What an information packed speech! I made notes to be able to re-read & internalize such an impactful analysis. And thank you Dr Peter Gray, you just helped me crack the mystery why Narcissism is on the rise today, globally.
I enjoyed Dr. Peter Gray's video; I remember as a kid we played until it got dark. We as parents new to bring play back in our home's family game night. Our children are growing up too fast.
Its interesting to think why play is declining in most countries, not only in the US, which I lived in for 5 years in the 1985. but here in Iceland where kids grew up 30-50 years ago children where playing outdoor, hide and seek and lots of plays, but today, we are almost not seeing children playing outdoors. And I am worried about the depression in children today, parents are divorcing, and children are worried and full of anxiety. this is worse world, in some ways, but better in others.
Sigríður Halldórsdóttir The one thing he missed which I think is vital to his equation is video games. Kids are choosing to play video games over going outside as well.
+writerconsidered He does cover the impact online games and screen time has had in his book Free to Learn - of which a lot of the material of his talk comes from.
I just read an article today by a behavioral specialist that stated the lack of unstructured play in the lives of children causes them to have difficulty forming close relations. Many remain emotionally isolated. According to him, this is a proflile that has produced many mass murderers. When I was a child, we had freedom. There were boundaries, but we were free to roam within them. We learned to be responsible for ourselves and learned the penalties of not following the rules. We had our neighborhood friends, our school friends (and 3 recesses a day in elementary) and I am still friends with many of them fifty years later. I have found it much harder to form bonds with the younger people I work with. My closest friends are my oldest friends.
It's also interesting how rigid children's schedules are when it comes to sleep. they spend every waking hour in school or doing homework with my 2 hours to do whatever they want before they have to wash up and go to bed. During childhood, you're supposed to get enough sleep. Instead they wake up before sunrise in order to make it to school on time. How was nobody seen the detrimental effect this has on the youth?
looking at years behind me at university the only thing i can say is that i've learnt only those things i enjoyed learning, with teachers i enjoyed listening to.I think schools can never replace humans biological tendency of learning, instead it restricts it witha ll that grades ,syllabus and exams......,etc. a very good talk peter gray!!!!!!
Golden words! Kids have busy schedules now, they all overwhelmed and unhappy. I couldn't find friends outside for my son, very sad. Hopefully, more parents will let their kids play outside!
I could not agree more. When will the policy makers acknowledge this. Who is looking after the children's interests and development. You might be good at maths and science, but can you negotiate play scenarios with peers,problem solve in social situations,be confident in sharing your opinions,be empathetic to others and inclusive too. We learn all these things as children by doing and by connecting with others in play,
The policy makers still haven't acknowledged this. >:( As to who is looking after the children's interests and development, it's all the professionals I've met in the Early Childhood Education field. I have been so impressed with all my professors this semester, because every one of them encourages us to incorporate play into our teaching when we finally make it into the classroom.
This is one of my favorite Ted Talks. I am so sick of teachers taking play away and replacing it with worksheets. It shows you know nothing about child development when you do that and it makes educated parents lose all respect for you as a professional.
Please don't blame the teachers, they don't agree with it either but they are only doing what they are told to do by their Principals. It is the govt & education depts who are forcing the formalised learning into the early years instead of play based learning. It is all to do naplan testing & literacy & numeracy. I am tired of teachers receiving all the blame when it is out of their hands.
Chas Channell I do not know many teachers who would rather hand out worksheets than do fun, engaging activities with their students! They are told what to teach and when (by the states and school districts) but not given enough time to do these things. There is a major push to achieve in tests and make school more rigorous but nearly every teacher will tell you that this is having the opposite effect on children’s learning.
Yes please don’t blame the teachers. I have been teaching for 20 years and was inspired and believed I could change things for the better from the inside. However the system needs changing from the top.
To add to all the comments people have already left---I'm going into the Early Childhood Education field, and the things that all my professors complain about unanimously are 1) the developmental inappropriateness of kindergarteners learning first-grade material (and of trying to prepare preschoolers for those kindergarten programs), and 2) the importance of play in any early childhood program. I am watching this video right now as part of an assignment for one of my classes! So, as everyone has said, don't blame the teachers--especially the ones who went into education because they love kids and love to teach. We don't want to stifle kids' growth and development any more than you want us to, but state regulations are seriously messed up, and if teachers don't follow them they get fired. I am honestly flabbergasted by what kids are learning in school these days. In my Intro to Educational Technology class, I'm learning about all the things kids in my state are supposed to know about technology by the end of each grade, and it is *insane.* Nine and ten-year-olds are learning basic programming---something I didn't even consider trying until I was fourteen, and am still incapable of doing today. In some classrooms, kids are learning to take computers apart and fix various components---something I wouldn't even dream of being able to do to this day. I think it's cool that kids are able to learn this stuff, but I also think that it signals a huge problem with the education system, that they are expected to learn these things so young to get a passing grade.
This is fantastic. We homeschool our 6 kids, and when our oldest 4 were ages 1-7 we moved to 2 acres in the country. I intentionally let them play alone out in our pasture for hours, building, making up games, digging a giant hole to create a bunker (we live in a flood zone but they didn't care lol). My oldest son, now 16, took over all the lawn care and has planted all sorts of foliage all over our property. He wants to own a plant nursery one day. He and my 12yo son have hatched and raised dozens of chicks and ducklings (and even sold some), and talk about owning a hatchery. They both compose music in their spare time. They usually finish their school work in 2-4 hours (the 16yo has much more work, but still has reasonable free time). My littler guys spend their days rotating through the pool, trampoline, pasture (sheep and chickens), kittens and dogs, legos, interesting youtube channels, and making treasure hunts for each other. I wanted an adventurous childhood for my kids. I feel like we have given our children an invaluable gift with the way we raised them. They have lots of friends, and they're some of the most kind, patient, well-adjusted, hard-working people I've even known.
You know what I find ironic about this? I had to watch this video for school, then write a page about what my thoughts are about the video and whether or not I agree or disagree about it...
If that was the case it shows that the teacher had a certain freedom to choose that activity. From what I hear teachers are robbed of their freedom to be creative and ‘playful’ in how they choose to teach, even though they have to go through extra training to become one. Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t stand me in a corner, please.
This discussion is right up my alley, as I teach both TK and K (not in the same year-but I loop from TK to K with my students). During my TK year, my students have a mandated time of 1 hour and a half of workshops. Those workshops are student choice. The problem I find is that we can't call it play per the state. We have to call it workshops. We don't even use play in the lesson plan or in our dialogue. But what's wrong with the word play? We want kids to play and explore. In fact, in each center as I walk around, I do not enter the center without students asking me to join. Of course I make sure that the play is safe and inclusive for every student, but it can not be called play. In this video, it says that play allows students to grow and learn. It also says that play develops student into success as adults. They need this play. My students all play sports, taking music lessons, dance, karate and much more, but those aren't play. Sports with a coach teaching your and a parent watching from the sidelines is not play. It is organized sports. So nothing wrong with sports, but they also need to play, explore, grow and learn.
This is so powerful. As a professional educator I have been worried about the burden of homework and controlled activities. There is a price that kids will pay as adults because they were robbed of play.
When I get my degree, I’m not going to assign homework (ill be in eve though so it’ll be rare that it happens anyway depending on the age group i work in.) even if i move to a school system, i still wont. It’ll be only if there was unfinished school work would a child go home with any work todo.
@@joleneblake9906 unfinished school work is the fault of the teacher, plan better, don't use the children's home time to make up for poor lesson planning, they will just hate you
@@BradJSuccess I understand. I grew up in an abusive alcoholic family, and had fear and responsibility, and guilt if I played, thrown into my life at an early age. I am learning, again, how to play.
@@ajrwilde14 A lot of truth here. There is a third factor - we adults who believe that homework is essential (which it is not). They pressure teachers.
Don't even want to argue with more play! As I prepare to bring a child into this world, I will certainly be making space for the kid to play... building a community around the little one to learn through play. I do find this is true for more than just Children though. There is so much pressure to "work", to pay bills ... when's the last time we did something for our neighbor? Our town? ...The world continues to ratchet down on "standards" and "controls" as we scale everything up ... there's an assumption that there is a "right way" to do just about everything ... we are giving up our most cherished freedom... play time!
Muchas gracias por la traducción y revisión Lidia Cámara de la Fuente y Sebastian Betti. Muchas gracias Peter Gray. ¡¡ Es una charla maravillosa que como docente la suscribo al 100% !!
Great introduction with the word "play" in capitol letters, the bouncing ball and music. When I read the comments I could see the word "play" above and it kept reminding me how important it is for our children.
When I was a kid, I climbed anything in site and was like an early parkour kid without knowing it. I recently saw a video of young goats climbing on stuff to get to the top of the hill and realized that that was ME 45 years ago. Fascinating! Those goats reminded me of when I was climbing anything in sight. No dog could catch me because I could be up a fence in a second. It happened again when I saw another video of some monkeys climbing in the trees and they were rough-housing and I immediately thought of childhood fun. I learned to ride a bike by finding an old girls bike and through trial and error learned on my own to ride and scratched my knees pretty bad. But when I learned on my own, my Dad bought me a new bike for my birthday. I also learned how to stare down mean dogs so they backed off (except for pit bulls) like our family dog Lucky who would fight any other male dog in our neighborhood. And boy was I fast. I learned about explosives with firecrackers...fire when I accidentally lit the orchard on fire and urinated to put it out with some dirt too,...insects when I had to catch them for my personal insect collection,...using a lawn mower to make a few bucks,....... Childhood today is so ....what's the word....STERILIZED like what this guy says. Like the time I was caught shoplifting and my Dad took me to church for the Sacrament of Reconciliation to confess (it was on a Saturday) and I never stole ever again My Mom said "Go outside and come back before dark, and get in trouble but not big trouble. And I know you know the difference. Out!" My Mom understood how to raise boys. Childhood is such a precious time. DON'T WASTE IT! Get in trouble. But don't end up in San Quentin. 🙂
As an early childhood educator, this lack of play breaks my heart. To think that children are being deprived of their human right to play brings me to tears. It is such a heartbreaking reality, which I hope with every bone in my body that can be changed. xoxo
Dr. Grey's talk reminds me of my childhood days and how the children of today are missing out on that important part of actual self-directed and self-initiated play.
Dr. Gray talks about narcissism in children, I worked in public education for 15 years and have seen the rise in emphasis of self-esteem unearned self-esteem is counterproductive and I believe is a major contributor to narcissism. Self-esteem is a gift you earn for yourself by accomplishment and a job well done it cannot be magically bestowed without negative consequences Like being self-centered as children are given the impression that they are the center of the universe by the schools and helicopter parents as I have witnessed in the years of observing schoolkids behavior and interaction with others. Explore the possibility of homeschooling it produces a superior education then public schools and don't let anyone tell you that homeschooled children are socially deprived because that just isn't true there are so many resources available to homeschoolers these days for groups and activities of all kinds for children, it is not expensive but it does require a commitment of the parents, contact a local successful homeschool group in your community and ask questions to learn more. Homeschooled children have plenty of free time for play!
I'm 17, and I grew up with a lifestyle that lacked play. I wish I could have had more time to play. I wish the importance of school hadn't been drilled into my head.
1/1 it is important to have a playful spirit in your work so your energy is good vibes and it rubs off on the people around you especially dealing with children. having a playful spirt can also lead to creativity and making new lessons and challenges for the campers. i can have new ideas as well.
The state of Day care is so sad to me. Most child care centers are so focused on alphabet and number recognition that the time for spontaneous play is becoming non existent. The time when the brain is most placed is not taken advantage of.
Yes! Our 4yo was in a Montessori in a Korean neighborhood in OC. The teacher told us our son was not into academics...@4yo! I joked that if our son was last in the class, he would still get into a good college!!
I remember going outside my house to join a group of children in the neighbourhood. They were right there without appointments or play dates arrangement whatsoever! I remember playing running racing with them along the zigzag alleys and corners of the streets and it was so much fun
(First of all, I am a big fan of Peter Gray and have been following his research for years.) He's talking about play-deprived animals (~1:50), and all I can think of are those rescued animals from abusive situations: hoarders, puppy mills, meat-farms. You ever seen one of them experience grass for the first time? Oh my god, they can't handle it. I think this might be a great example for easy comprehension when sharing this with other people.
I could not agree more. I grow up in the 50s I am based in the UK, I lived on a farm. We had a large area to play in. We, the farm kids would play by the large ponds, lakes, fish, camp. By the age of 8 to 10 I was making camps, fires as well as learning outdoor skills. Old crafts. I started to look at ethical groups and they lived. I am now looking at running environmental, teaching support projects. I am now using a number of your books, which we find a great help.
social play? virtual play? i was a poorly adjusted teen and played about 20 hours of video games a week. the "learning social cues" really struck me and the aggressive, frightened reactions of a non-playing animal really stuck out.
I'm in highschool and I never get a chance to relax. There is always assignments or tests every single week. I barely have any time to breathe. I am scared of going to university because I know things will get even worse.
I know right dude. My junior year was THE busiest fucking time of my life and I never knew I would get such anxiety. There are some helpful ways to get out of anxiety like meditating, socializing, and having your own time...But my motivation went down the toilet after spending 20+ hours on an assignment and getting a C. Do you have all honors/some AP classes?
merrywinxmas College may not be worse - I went to a very challenging high school and had the type of experience you are having. I went to a great college, but I think I had less work and more time to relax there! Keep your chin up!
When I was a kid my 6 brothers and sisters and 20 cousins were outside every day playing. There were kids everywhere ('70s). We had 4 different fields to play, play on tire swings, eat blackberries and grapes, and wild strawberries. We built forts in our yards in trees. Times have changed but we were out until 7pm. We walked to Religious Education on Sundays and on the trip home we picked up chestnuts. We drilled holes in them and put string through them and threw them up telephone lines. We made mud balls and threw them onto our neighbor's apartment buildings (which got us in trouble). On Halloween we went on about 20-25 streets, came home and dumped the candy and went out again. We had this one couple who gave us cider and doughnuts each Halloween. We were out until 10pm that night. I hope kids play more and put their phones and games away. Ask your parents what they did when they were kids. Enjoy nature, please.
The main reason I saw this was because of school work. But this is so true. I hate just the though of more school. I am a sophomore in high school and school started 2 weeks ago. I've been stressed for the past 2 weeks. I've been so stressed to the point where I have a breakdown. School should be less stress. They should stop sending work home. I sleep at 12pm doing homework wake up at 7am to get myself and my younger sister ready for school. I've lost control of what I do. Teacher, my parents, Professors have taken control of what I do with my life and I hate it.
We have had the 'Race' movement, and the 'Women's' movement the next human rights movement will be the 'Children's' Movement. Bring it on... can't come soon enough for me.
I actually have a question. In this world of evolving technology... can play be replaced or supplemented (probably heavily) by usage of internet? In my opinion, the innovation and thinking processes can easily be replaced by technology, but, the social ability of children will never be replaced.
I think that child abductions--as rare as they may be--affected parents willingness to let kids go out and play together. My friends and I in the early 2000s would play outside all the time. My little brother born in 2004 almost never plays outside with his friends.
44 people on here are not in favor of play! 2.8k out weights your point of thumbs down! Kind of sad for those 44 people who are not in favor! Can you imagine who they really are?
*Why Adults Should Play* Playing is a very important means for development. When we play, we develop new relationships and connections. While it is common knowledge that children need to play in order to develop, which is why we buy them games and put a lot of effort into working out the most suitable games for each stage of their development, it is not so clear with us adults. We do not really like to play. Our relations end up quickly deteriorating into each one of us degrading the other, which ends our playing. As a result, we miss out on a lot of what we can get out of life. We fail to examine all of our options for development as adults, and we thus put a halt to our further development. We have turned our daily lives into a prison of sorts. That is, we need to look, behave and talk in certain kinds of ways-and only in those certain kinds of ways-otherwise, we will not fit in with others and gain their respect. Without their respect, we get treated in ways that harm us. We suffer from living in such a prison, but it has become so ingrained into our lives that we cannot escape from it. The essence of our playing as adults should be that we treat each other positively even if we do not feel like it, and to teach others to do the same. Playing in such a way would emulate the higher state of positive connection that nature is developing us toward, and we would thus draw positive forces of connection that dwell in nature into our relations, and start feeling happier, more confident, and that our lives are purpose-driven.
I feel you are correct, play is so important and will give good results if you correct it, however it is just a gut feeling and it will always be. Correlation and cause, I am sorry even linear as you say is no proof. And you know that. Only way to get it right is to isolate 1000 children and do it right if you can and measure the results if you know how, and then even the experiment was pointless. It is not possible to isolate the cause effect what you want to measure to draw this conclusion. Psychologists should stop trying to fit in science, because there is nothing you can proof significantly with control groups, What works for one kid doesn't work for others. Every conclusion in the direction of this talk is another effort to wanting to treat a mass efficiently. Every kid needs a specialized treatment. Some kids need to run 5 miles, 3 times a day in the forest and we stuff them 9 hours in a confined school-class and feed them ritaline. Just because they don't fit in the government ideal.
First thing I noticed 0:13 in to this talk... His own presentation spells his name "Grey", but the TEDx folks superimpose the words "Peter GRAY" onto the bottom left of the screen AND on the title of this "The decline of play | Peter Gray" I'm assuming he spells his own name in his presentation correctly as "Grey", so I'm assuming that ought to be corrected?
When my kids go out I am mostly afraid of cars. Young guys showing off, or excited shoppers speeding towars the next shop. Will they stop in time if my son drop the ball and cross without thinking? Also people do not walk or bike anymore. I am one of the very few walking to the soccer field with my kids. Most people drive. Since the streets are free of bikes and pedestrians, cars drive faster, and fewer venture in the street.
My professor made us watch this video along with some others for a paper and honestly, I dont think he's listening to this speaker. We have so much homework and he has the audacity to make us watch a video that says we need less school lol wow.
I told my son's teacher that I would be rejecting unnecessary homework. I have him focus on what he needs and toss what he doesn't. Despite the fact that he's doing exactly what homework is intended for, I was informed that he would be punished for not having his homework finished and his grade would be negatively affected. I finally got the principal to stop the teacher from depriving him of recess but his grades will suffer. Kids need time to be kids. By the end of the day our kids are working 8-9 hours a day before they have to shower, eat dinner, and go to bed. It's ridiculous.
Probably one of the most important TED Talks that I've seen.
Chris I totally agree too!
@@BradJSuccess You Punjabi?!
Es tupidos es mentiras jajaja
@@kassandravasquez9597 Mentirosa!
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Not just kids: adults. I need more time to be able to do things besides work. Work should definitely not be the main priority in life.
Amen!
You're right!
Work is something, but work is not everything.
Jeff I totally agree with you!
I think it's also important that you can play at work. You make play part of your routine. It makes you more creative, more resilient and better at solving problems
This should be required viewing for any teacher, parent, or caretaker of children. Peter Gray highlights the importance of a critical need of children that is not being met.
Talk to a home-schooler. I was home-schooled and we were much more relaxed, we played every chance we got and it was okay to go over our break time. I never had homework and no stress of assignments. I also developed a closer relationship with my parents and siblings than a lot of kids I see these days, I did however, have friends because of groups of other home-schooler's getting together at the park to play games and the mums to discuss life. I am now at uni studying to be a teacher because I want other kids to be given the opportunity to learn the way I did, and still be successful.
Joanne I'm glad to hear your success story, there is so much stigma about homeschooling.
I'm glad you had that kind of experience with homeschooling. I, for one, did not - at least not for those last 5-6 years. Seventh through twelfth grade was all distance learning. What "distance learning" meant was seeing a teacher on a screen read the book, pausing the tape to write down everything he or she said, reading the book, then answering question about the book. This took 10-14 hours a day for 4-5 core subjects. Yes, the long term effects are horrendous. I recently took a computerized speed reading test where I scored low because I read every word twice!
Thank you for sharing your experience, @@lowyieldforeffort6996. Researching homeschooling options matters, as you are making evident. Not all options are the same
Im an occupational therapist and I cried watching this video
👏👏👏👏👏👏❤❤❤
Patricia, i believe you.
It is sad to be in a situation where people do not value play, not even when the child improves markedly in front of their eyes, their values are so strong. Their 'disdain' towards play... is incredibly destructive of their own child(in this case) and thus of their own life.
Difficult to watch this happen, and feel powerless to change the culture...
are we powerless to change the culture?!
I love this message. I am a proud parent of a kid who plays. Every day after school my 10 year old son and a group of boys ages 6-12 run, bike, skateboard, climb trees, play basketball, and football, all over our neighborhood, most nights until after dark. They make up their own games, negotiate, solve problems, learn how to get along without adults, and create elaborate adventures with their toy light sabers or just use sticks and cardboard boxes. When we first moved to the neighborhood, all my son wanted to do was sit at the computer and play mine craft. The boys kept ringing the doorbell asking him to play and eventually he started joining in. Now he cant wait to do his homework so he can get out there and PLAY. It only takes one parent to start a change in the neighborhood. In my case, the. Neighbor across the street had two boys and they had limited time on the computer and video games ("house rules." )So they were always outside. It forced me to think about my choices for my son and how he wasn't growing up runnning around the neighborhood with friends like how I did. And now he is. He still plays a lot of Mine craft but he has hours of unsupervised creative play.
Sounds like my street. I have 3 boys and they have a blast with all our neighborhood kids. Childhood should be the best time of their lives 😊
Good job recognizing a potentially bad pattern and letting another pattern settle in!!! Your boy got lucky!!! 👍👍👍
I'm glad to hear about this.
He's right on. And during the same period, many children are doing poorly at school. They need more undirected free-play time, outdoors in nature. We need to get back to "reality" as a society and stop thinking of our children as little commodities.
Emily I agree, children need to have the freedom to play and build bonds with there friends.
Totally agree with this. When I was a kid, I could play on my street for a year or two, but then everyone paved their front gardens and there were so many cars coming and going it just wasn't safe. I couldn't go to the park because my parents were scared I'd be kidnapped. So all I was really allowed to do was go to my friends house and watch tv. I was brought up in the suburbs so I can only imagine what it's like for kids in the city. My boyfriend had an idyllic childhood in the countryside - adventures, building things, space to run around and trees to fall out of. He had no idea how lucky he was until we compared notes. As for school - why the hell do children get given homework? Isn't it bad enough they're caged in a classroom for 7 hours already? what purpose does homework serve? People say school is good for socialising children but really, with class, extra curriculars and homework, when do they actually get to socialise? Makes me want to homeschool when I have kids.
I grew up in a big city in China with 2 millions population, and I had a lot of free play outside. The key I think is that our condo buildings (8 floors tall and probably 1000s residents in them) were built as a quad with a big yard in the center. Buildings facing the streets surround our common space and keep us from the outside traffic and noise. So Essentially each block is a community with its own recreational open space. Sure it’s not comparable to the country side and wide life, but we did have lots of pretend play, group play, sports, negotiations, fights, and later on wandering around the city by public transportation my ourselves. My parents would let me play after school until dark, and if needed they would get to the balcony and shout out to me. I’m raising kids in a suburb in the US and it’s depressing. Kids can’t get anywhere without parents driving them around. The nice facilities are all presentation. People are so isolated from each other in the name of “privacy”.
Tash, my mom didn't even trust to send me to friends houses. I was stuck at home with the TV and computer.
yup i wanna homeschool too
Homeschooling will allow you to let your children play A LOT!
@@BradJSuccess oh man sorry dude :( I was lucky my best friend growing up literally lived 10 houses down the road in our cul-de-sac so i could walk there in 20 seconds
Never truer words spoken, particularly in regard to the significant rise of anxious and depressed children.
I am a child, 12 nearly 13 in secondary school, year 8 (English Education System). A lot of the time, even right now I feel physically sick when I think about school and homework. I talked to my friends and they said they feel that way too. I don't understand how they think this is a good educational system if children, children are sick with worry about school. I will say that I did grow up protected and wasn't aloud to play "out" much but that was because my dad was in the police for a while and helped with murderers even of one of a little girl so. But when need a system when children look forward too school instead of think the only good thing is your friends which is how I feel. This is alll coming from a child who is twelve years of age and is within the educational system right now. One last thing we have much less "creative" lessons than maths and English etc. Even then lessons like art are very controlled and seam boring sometimes.
+Katherine Hartwig Thank you it is nice to hear adults respect and listen to children's ideas instead if dismissing this because we are children.
Emma Frenche I see what I can do.
You might benefit from homeschooling instead.
I agree completley. Something needs to change.
When I'm a parent, I want an environment where kids play more than they test.
Look up Sudbury Valley school and Summerhill School
As a parent and as a manager of people in my job, I see this as such an important topic. Perhaps the only thing not mentioned in the video is the importance of unstructured play probably never goes away. Adults in our work spaces and in our everyday lives need to carve out time to have unstructured play especially in roles that require creativity and abstract thinking.
Agreed. I'm a designer and at my last job, I was told that I am 'too creative' and have 'too many ideas' Why on earth hire creatives and build entire creative teams if you don't want them to create?? Nothing is more dangerous to a professional creative than being put in tight little box with your wings clipped like some kind of battery hen - no good creative work comes from restrictive environments. If only more people were as forward thinking as you and Dr Gray.
Stephan, this makes total sense, why are we micromanaging kids play time.
Thinking this general attitude needs to extend into adulthood. And I mean general because as adults we tend to want to quantify everything which ironically can take away from the big picture and turn even this concept upside down/defeat the purpose with perfectionism. It's another antidote to neurotic ambition and ironically can increase ambitious results
Благодаря, НЕЛИ, за субтитрите и за насочването на вниманието! Остава да се хванем за ръце и да работим...
Enormous fan of Peter Gray and his research. Spread this video -- the message's importance can't be overstated.
I agree with this Charlie. Doing the same.
Steven Pinker (the most famous living psychologist - prior to Jordan Peterson, at least, plus his fame is actually due to his work in his field) wrote the praise for his book.
They want more school hours, they say extracurriculars are needed for college application and they want every 16 year old to have an after school job, get home and eat dinner at 9pm and do homework for 6 hours followed by 4 hours sleep so they can get be back in school by 8am.
Why are they doing this? Because they want to train the next generation to be good little worker drones who think it's normal to work 14 hours per day.
+Luke Beauchamp "Why are they doing this?": They don't know what they're doing.
You Sound Like A Commune Living, Hippie Socialist. You Sound Like Carl Skinner When He Would Ramble Similar Karl Marx Like Nonsense (He Wouldn't Know That It Was Karl Marx Like, But He'd Ramble It Nonetheless). Are You Carl Skinner? (There Are Workers And Then There Are Those That Oversee Workers. I Fall In The Latter Category.)
PeeGee BeeDee So will making the kids work and study all day and never giving them time to play or rest turn them into good little capitalists or good little slaves?
PeeGee BeeDee Is success determined by genes or willpower?
Luke Beauchamp Genes. Because Your Genes Determine How Much Will Power You Have.
When I was 15 (1999) I complained to my parents that I felt play had been robbed from my life, my dad told me to shut up.
I hope you are able to reclaim your own identity! I believe in you. You can do it!! Believe in yourself and in who really are.
Well maybe you should tell your dad that play is important and Don’t you tell me to shut up you like did last time when was I child. Don’t allow anyone even your parents to tell you to shut up.
thank you
Alice sorry that happened to you. My generation doesn't even know what recess is.
Outstanding. As a preschool teacher, this inspiring and accurate.
Saw a toy company share this vid and has me thinking about the lack of play and unstructured time kids have nowadays. It’s fundamental for childhood. Adults too, overly structured now and no time for off time.
I had a vague intuition that I was sending my daughter to school that was not only ineffective but also destructive for her capacity to learn and her growth as a whole human. Dr Gray's and John Gatto's books have helped me clarify those intuitions. With Dr Gray, the clarification is coming from a scientific and evolutionary perspective. With Gatto, it is from an experiential, analytical, and free associating perspective. These books have been very helpful for my family and especially my children. I'll be homeschooling from now on. I will also be doing everything that I can to limit the power of sociopathic mega institutions, particularly the schooling organizations, whose goals are, from what I can gather, 1. to grow indefinitely and 2. to homogenize the population so that it is predictable for industry.
16 minutes does not do this top justice!!! anyway thanks for planting the seeds!!!
blackvitruvianman the book is great! got it on audible
facts
One of the best and most important videos ive seen in some time.
Sahil, I totally feel the same.
We've made such a hostile world where free outdoor play is nearly impossible, and I still see adults wondering why so many kids play videogames so often. It's the closest thing kids these days have to self-direct social play. What did you expect to happen when, every time they wanted to go out and play, you say, "no, you can't because you have too much homework/you have to go to this extracurricular activity I signed you up for/it's too dangerous out/I need to watch you and I don't have time to"? Videogames are they only thing they CAN do and adults still want to take it away because they see it as a waste of time, not an attempt at having fun and trying to connect with their friends when all other ways of doing so are blocked. We're suffocating our children. Many kids I know would much rather spend time outside running around than sitting inside playing videogames, but we've made it unappealing and hard to do so. And for what? We know our society is screwed up when parents are stressing about their children's future careers before they've even entered high school.
Absolutely true. And I have even heard that parents work extremely hard to get their children into highly coveted college-prep pre-schools....Unbelievable.
Vow. Amazing! What an information packed speech! I made notes to be able to re-read & internalize such an impactful analysis.
And thank you Dr Peter Gray, you just helped me crack the mystery why Narcissism is on the rise today, globally.
I def need to rewatch and take notes too.
I enjoyed Dr. Peter Gray's video; I remember as a kid we played until it got dark. We as parents new to bring play back in our home's family game night. Our children are growing up too fast.
Its interesting to think why play is declining in most countries, not only in the US, which I lived in for 5 years in the 1985. but here in Iceland where kids grew up 30-50 years ago children where playing outdoor, hide and seek and lots of plays, but today, we are almost not seeing children playing outdoors. And I am worried about the depression in children today, parents are divorcing, and children are worried and full of anxiety. this is worse world, in some ways, but better in others.
Sigríður Halldórsdóttir
The one thing he missed which I think is vital to his equation is video games. Kids are choosing to play video games over going outside as well.
+writerconsidered He does cover the impact online games and screen time has had in his book Free to Learn - of which a lot of the material of his talk comes from.
Sigríður Halldórsdóttir
I miss hide and seek.
I just read an article today by a behavioral specialist that stated the lack of unstructured play in the lives of children causes them to have difficulty forming close relations. Many remain emotionally isolated. According to him, this is a proflile that has produced many mass murderers. When I was a child, we had freedom. There were boundaries, but we were free to roam within them. We learned to be responsible for ourselves and learned the penalties of not following the rules. We had our neighborhood friends, our school friends (and 3 recesses a day in elementary) and I am still friends with many of them fifty years later. I have found it much harder to form bonds with the younger people I work with. My closest friends are my oldest friends.
Brilliant talk! I was saying "Yes!" at numerous points!
What an enlightening talk! I am resolved to make changes in our schedule to include more self-directed play!
Agnes I'm glad to hear that!
It's also interesting how rigid children's schedules are when it comes to sleep. they spend every waking hour in school or doing homework with my 2 hours to do whatever they want before they have to wash up and go to bed. During childhood, you're supposed to get enough sleep. Instead they wake up before sunrise in order to make it to school on time. How was nobody seen the detrimental effect this has on the youth?
looking at years behind me at university the only thing i can say is that i've learnt only those things i enjoyed learning, with teachers i enjoyed listening to.I think schools can never replace humans biological tendency of learning, instead it restricts it witha ll that grades ,syllabus and exams......,etc. a very good talk peter gray!!!!!!
Golden words! Kids have busy schedules now, they all overwhelmed and unhappy. I couldn't find friends outside for my son, very sad. Hopefully, more parents will let their kids play outside!
And I've always thought piles of homework was a stupid idea. I always did it on the bus, because when I get home, I want to wind down.
I remember doing the same, also in class during and lunch. We worked together :)
I could not agree more. When will the policy makers acknowledge this.
Who is looking after the children's interests and development.
You might be good at maths and science, but can you negotiate play scenarios with peers,problem solve in social situations,be confident in sharing your opinions,be empathetic to others and inclusive too.
We learn all these things as children by doing and by connecting with others in play,
Vivian you're right, there are so many children who do not have any social skills or common sense.
The policy makers still haven't acknowledged this. >:(
As to who is looking after the children's interests and development, it's all the professionals I've met in the Early Childhood Education field. I have been so impressed with all my professors this semester, because every one of them encourages us to incorporate play into our teaching when we finally make it into the classroom.
This is one of my favorite Ted Talks. I am so sick of teachers taking play away and replacing it with worksheets. It shows you know nothing about child development when you do that and it makes educated parents lose all respect for you as a professional.
Please don't blame the teachers, they don't agree with it either but they are only doing what they are told to do by their Principals. It is the govt & education depts who are forcing the formalised learning into the early years instead of play based learning. It is all to do naplan testing & literacy & numeracy. I am tired of teachers receiving all the blame when it is out of their hands.
Chas Channell I do not know many teachers who would rather hand out worksheets than do fun, engaging activities with their students! They are told what to teach and when (by the states and school districts) but not given enough time to do these things. There is a major push to achieve in tests and make school more rigorous but nearly every teacher will tell you that this is having the opposite effect on children’s learning.
Chas I hate worksheets.
Yes please don’t blame the teachers. I have been teaching for 20 years and was inspired and believed I could change things for the better from the inside. However the system needs changing from the top.
To add to all the comments people have already left---I'm going into the Early Childhood Education field, and the things that all my professors complain about unanimously are 1) the developmental inappropriateness of kindergarteners learning first-grade material (and of trying to prepare preschoolers for those kindergarten programs), and 2) the importance of play in any early childhood program. I am watching this video right now as part of an assignment for one of my classes! So, as everyone has said, don't blame the teachers--especially the ones who went into education because they love kids and love to teach. We don't want to stifle kids' growth and development any more than you want us to, but state regulations are seriously messed up, and if teachers don't follow them they get fired.
I am honestly flabbergasted by what kids are learning in school these days. In my Intro to Educational Technology class, I'm learning about all the things kids in my state are supposed to know about technology by the end of each grade, and it is *insane.* Nine and ten-year-olds are learning basic programming---something I didn't even consider trying until I was fourteen, and am still incapable of doing today. In some classrooms, kids are learning to take computers apart and fix various components---something I wouldn't even dream of being able to do to this day. I think it's cool that kids are able to learn this stuff, but I also think that it signals a huge problem with the education system, that they are expected to learn these things so young to get a passing grade.
This is fantastic. We homeschool our 6 kids, and when our oldest 4 were ages 1-7 we moved to 2 acres in the country. I intentionally let them play alone out in our pasture for hours, building, making up games, digging a giant hole to create a bunker (we live in a flood zone but they didn't care lol). My oldest son, now 16, took over all the lawn care and has planted all sorts of foliage all over our property. He wants to own a plant nursery one day. He and my 12yo son have hatched and raised dozens of chicks and ducklings (and even sold some), and talk about owning a hatchery. They both compose music in their spare time. They usually finish their school work in 2-4 hours (the 16yo has much more work, but still has reasonable free time).
My littler guys spend their days rotating through the pool, trampoline, pasture (sheep and chickens), kittens and dogs, legos, interesting youtube channels, and making treasure hunts for each other. I wanted an adventurous childhood for my kids. I feel like we have given our children an invaluable gift with the way we raised them. They have lots of friends, and they're some of the most kind, patient, well-adjusted, hard-working people I've even known.
You know what I find ironic about this? I had to watch this video for school, then write a page about what my thoughts are about the video and whether or not I agree or disagree about it...
Hangi soruları sormuşlardı?
That means you have a teacher who cares about you.
If that was the case it shows that the teacher had a certain freedom to choose that activity. From what I hear teachers are robbed of their freedom to be creative and ‘playful’ in how they choose to teach, even though they have to go through extra training to become one. Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t stand me in a corner, please.
Lol, sheer irony!! You have a healthy sense of humor 😅
@@patchamberlain6132 that’s actually a large reason I, for career, gave up on teaching. The system doesn’t want you to make a difference.
This discussion is right up my alley, as I teach both TK and K (not in the same year-but I loop from TK to K with my students). During my TK year, my students have a mandated time of 1 hour and a half of workshops. Those workshops are student choice. The problem I find is that we can't call it play per the state. We have to call it workshops. We don't even use play in the lesson plan or in our dialogue. But what's wrong with the word play? We want kids to play and explore. In fact, in each center as I walk around, I do not enter the center without students asking me to join.
Of course I make sure that the play is safe and inclusive for every student, but it can not be called play. In this video, it says that play allows students to grow and learn. It also says that play develops student into success as adults. They need this play.
My students all play sports, taking music lessons, dance, karate and much more, but those aren't play. Sports with a coach teaching your and a parent watching from the sidelines is not play. It is organized sports. So nothing wrong with sports, but they also need to play, explore, grow and learn.
This is so powerful. As a professional educator I have been worried about the burden of homework and controlled activities. There is a price that kids will pay as adults because they were robbed of play.
When I get my degree, I’m not going to assign homework (ill be in eve though so it’ll be rare that it happens anyway depending on the age group i work in.) even if i move to a school system, i still wont. It’ll be only if there was unfinished school work would a child go home with any work todo.
@@joleneblake9906 unfinished school work is the fault of the teacher, plan better, don't use the children's home time to make up for poor lesson planning, they will just hate you
Edward I feel like I was robbed of play.
@@BradJSuccess I understand. I grew up in an abusive alcoholic family, and had fear and responsibility, and guilt if I played, thrown into my life at an early age. I am learning, again, how to play.
@@ajrwilde14 A lot of truth here. There is a third factor - we adults who believe that homework is essential (which it is not). They pressure teachers.
Don't even want to argue with more play! As I prepare to bring a child into this world, I will certainly be making space for the kid to play... building a community around the little one to learn through play. I do find this is true for more than just Children though. There is so much pressure to "work", to pay bills ... when's the last time we did something for our neighbor? Our town? ...The world continues to ratchet down on "standards" and "controls" as we scale everything up ... there's an assumption that there is a "right way" to do just about everything ... we are giving up our most cherished freedom... play time!
Muchas gracias por la traducción y revisión Lidia Cámara de la Fuente y Sebastian Betti. Muchas gracias Peter Gray. ¡¡ Es una charla maravillosa que como docente la suscribo al 100% !!
Fantastic Peter Gray!!!
Great introduction with the word "play" in capitol letters, the bouncing ball and music. When I read the comments I could see the word "play" above and it kept reminding me how important it is for our children.
Well Said! Play has very important role in child's development.
When I was a kid, I climbed anything in site and was like an early parkour kid without knowing it. I recently saw a video of young goats climbing on stuff to get to the top of the hill and realized that that was ME 45 years ago. Fascinating! Those goats reminded me of when I was climbing anything in sight. No dog could catch me because I could be up a fence in a second. It happened again when I saw another video of some monkeys climbing in the trees and they were rough-housing and I immediately thought of childhood fun. I learned to ride a bike by finding an old girls bike and through trial and error learned on my own to ride and scratched my knees pretty bad. But when I learned on my own, my Dad bought me a new bike for my birthday. I also learned how to stare down mean dogs so they backed off (except for pit bulls) like our family dog Lucky who would fight any other male dog in our neighborhood. And boy was I fast.
I learned about explosives with firecrackers...fire when I accidentally lit the orchard on fire and urinated to put it out with some dirt too,...insects when I had to catch them for my personal insect collection,...using a lawn mower to make a few bucks,....... Childhood today is so ....what's the word....STERILIZED like what this guy says.
Like the time I was caught shoplifting and my Dad took me to church for the Sacrament of Reconciliation to confess (it was on a Saturday) and I never stole ever again
My Mom said "Go outside and come back before dark, and get in trouble but not big trouble. And I know you know the difference. Out!" My Mom understood how to raise boys.
Childhood is such a precious time. DON'T WASTE IT! Get in trouble. But don't end up in San Quentin. 🙂
Such an inspiring message. Thank you sir.
Yes Janet it was.
Brilliant,simply brilliant
I love this man.
As an early childhood educator, this lack of play breaks my heart. To think that children are being deprived of their human right to play brings me to tears. It is such a heartbreaking reality, which I hope with every bone in my body that can be changed. xoxo
Dr. Grey's talk reminds me of my childhood days and how the children of today are missing out on that important part of actual self-directed and self-initiated play.
💚💚💚
Keep your energy flowing Peter!
Dr. Gray talks about narcissism in children, I worked in public education for 15 years and have seen the rise in emphasis of self-esteem unearned self-esteem is counterproductive and I believe is a major contributor to narcissism. Self-esteem is a gift you earn for yourself by accomplishment and a job well done it cannot be magically bestowed without negative consequences Like being self-centered as children are given the impression that they are the center of the universe by the schools and helicopter parents as I have witnessed in the years of observing schoolkids behavior and interaction with others.
Explore the possibility of homeschooling it produces a superior education then public schools and don't let anyone tell you that homeschooled children are socially deprived because that just isn't true there are so many resources available to homeschoolers these days for groups and activities of all kinds for children, it is not expensive but it does require a commitment of the parents, contact a local successful homeschool group in your community and ask questions to learn more. Homeschooled children have plenty of free time for play!
I'm 17, and I grew up with a lifestyle that lacked play. I wish I could have had more time to play. I wish the importance of school hadn't been drilled into my head.
Thank you Dr. Peter, I agree with everything.
Dr Gray thanks so much for a great talk and I enjoyed the ending.
That was a really tight presentation, Peter! Fantastic recommendations at the end of your talk, too.
Pat I appreciate the recommendations too!
1/1
it is important to have a playful spirit in your work so your energy is good vibes and it rubs off on the people around you especially dealing with children. having a playful spirt can also lead to creativity and making new lessons and challenges for the campers. i can have new ideas as well.
The state of Day care is so sad to me. Most child care centers are so focused on alphabet and number recognition that the time for spontaneous play is becoming non existent. The time when the brain is most placed is not taken advantage of.
Starbucks Girl, you're totally right!
very scary.
Yes! Our 4yo was in a Montessori in a Korean neighborhood in OC.
The teacher told us our son was not into academics...@4yo!
I joked that if our son was last in the class, he would still get into a good college!!
@@kckrause Why is the world so silly.
Kids should PLAY outside in the trees!
Powerful!
100% agree
I am a first grade teacher and I totally agree!!!
Dr. Gray is a very smart man - he knows what he is talking about.
PeeGee BeeDee How do you spell the color, gray or grey?
Its Gray
I think it goes both ways.
Steven Pinker wrote the praise for his book.
11:53 Children Are More Depressed Today Than They Were During The Great Depression!
I have to agree with this. During the great depression they had play.
The Big Sad
@@smorrow Who's That?
@@peegeebeedee7563 The Great Depression
@@smorrow That's Its Nickname?
I remember going outside my house to join a group of children in the neighbourhood. They were right there without appointments or play dates arrangement whatsoever! I remember playing running racing with them along the zigzag alleys and corners of the streets and it was so much fun
Very interesting thanks for sharing
(First of all, I am a big fan of Peter Gray and have been following his research for years.)
He's talking about play-deprived animals (~1:50), and all I can think of are those rescued animals from abusive situations: hoarders, puppy mills, meat-farms. You ever seen one of them experience grass for the first time? Oh my god, they can't handle it.
I think this might be a great example for easy comprehension when sharing this with other people.
I could not agree more. I grow up in the 50s I am based in the UK, I lived on a farm. We had a large area to play in. We, the farm kids would play by the large ponds, lakes, fish, camp. By the age of 8 to 10 I was making camps, fires as well as learning outdoor skills. Old crafts. I started to look at ethical groups and they lived. I am now looking at running environmental, teaching support projects. I am now using a number of your books, which we find a great help.
"Play your best all your Life, because Life is the best Play of all." - 3rd Principle of The Zay of Ra
Krosan I love this quote.
Fantastic speaker
social play? virtual play? i was a poorly adjusted teen and played about 20 hours of video games a week. the "learning social cues" really struck me and the aggressive, frightened reactions of a non-playing animal really stuck out.
Thank you this is fabulous
I'm in highschool and I never get a chance to relax. There is always assignments or tests every single week. I barely have any time to breathe. I am scared of going to university because I know things will get even worse.
I know right dude. My junior year was THE busiest fucking time of my life and I never knew I would get such anxiety. There are some helpful ways to get out of anxiety like meditating, socializing, and having your own time...But my motivation went down the toilet after spending 20+ hours on an assignment and getting a C. Do you have all honors/some AP classes?
You will never be creative without downtime. You have to fight for your right to be bored!
Jordan I take 2 ap classes yep feels like death
I'm here watching this video because of college
merrywinxmas College may not be worse - I went to a very challenging high school and had the type of experience you are having. I went to a great college, but I think I had less work and more time to relax there! Keep your chin up!
Our kids need more play. They don't need more school. Maybe they need better school, but definitely not more.
When I was a kid my 6 brothers and sisters and 20 cousins were outside every day playing. There were kids everywhere ('70s). We had 4 different fields to play, play on tire swings, eat blackberries and grapes, and wild strawberries. We built forts in our yards in trees. Times have changed but we were out until 7pm. We walked to Religious Education on Sundays and on the trip home we picked up chestnuts. We drilled holes in them and put string through them and threw them up telephone lines. We made mud balls and threw them onto our neighbor's apartment buildings (which got us in trouble). On Halloween we went on about 20-25 streets, came home and dumped the candy and went out again. We had this one couple who gave us cider and doughnuts each Halloween. We were out until 10pm that night. I hope kids play more and put their phones and games away. Ask your parents what they did when they were kids. Enjoy nature, please.
"A rise of narcissism in young people and a decline in empathy."
At What Point Does He Say That?
PeeGee BeeDee 10:47
Very very sad 😔
Hey Aimsan, so true.
@@arai6147 Thank You.
Spot on!
Wow, best ted talk I ever looked!
A very interesting lecture on play.
Bring play back.
The main reason I saw this was because of school work. But this is so true. I hate just the though of more school. I am a sophomore in high school and school started 2 weeks ago. I've been stressed for the past 2 weeks. I've been so stressed to the point where I have a breakdown. School should be less stress. They should stop sending work home. I sleep at 12pm doing homework wake up at 7am to get myself and my younger sister ready for school. I've lost control of what I do. Teacher, my parents, Professors have taken control of what I do with my life and I hate it.
Soon you will have taken back some of the control.
hang in there, this too shall pass.
We have had the 'Race' movement, and the 'Women's' movement the next human rights movement will be the 'Children's' Movement. Bring it on... can't come soon enough for me.
This!
Hahah Sarah, I didn't look at it this way.
6:46 book recommendation:
„Deschooling Society“ by Ivan Illich
Thanks John.
its got to have more..
Before listening to this I thought the decline of free play was a recent phenomenon due to having to compete with technology and video games.
P❤❤❤
I actually have a question. In this world of evolving technology... can play be replaced or supplemented (probably heavily) by usage of internet? In my opinion, the innovation and thinking processes can easily be replaced by technology, but, the social ability of children will never be replaced.
I think that child abductions--as rare as they may be--affected parents willingness to let kids go out and play together. My friends and I in the early 2000s would play outside all the time. My little brother born in 2004 almost never plays outside with his friends.
Not trying to predict anything but do you see play deprived symtoms manifesting in your brother as mentioned by Peter Gray?
This video explains the majority of society's ills.
Urgent: If I prepare Arabic subtitles, can I send them to you to benefit Arabic speakers?
44 people on here are not in favor of play! 2.8k out weights your point of thumbs down! Kind of sad for those 44 people who are not in favor! Can you imagine who they really are?
They're all teachers.
We should take some notes form hunters and gathers.
Play is the language of children. Let us not take it away from them.
*Why Adults Should Play*
Playing is a very important means for development. When we play, we develop new relationships and connections.
While it is common knowledge that children need to play in order to develop, which is why we buy them games and put a lot of effort into working out the most suitable games for each stage of their development, it is not so clear with us adults. We do not really like to play. Our relations end up quickly deteriorating into each one of us degrading the other, which ends our playing.
As a result, we miss out on a lot of what we can get out of life. We fail to examine all of our options for development as adults, and we thus put a halt to our further development.
We have turned our daily lives into a prison of sorts. That is, we need to look, behave and talk in certain kinds of ways-and only in those certain kinds of ways-otherwise, we will not fit in with others and gain their respect. Without their respect, we get treated in ways that harm us. We suffer from living in such a prison, but it has become so ingrained into our lives that we cannot escape from it.
The essence of our playing as adults should be that we treat each other positively even if we do not feel like it, and to teach others to do the same. Playing in such a way would emulate the higher state of positive connection that nature is developing us toward, and we would thus draw positive forces of connection that dwell in nature into our relations, and start feeling happier, more confident, and that our lives are purpose-driven.
I feel you are correct, play is so important and will give good results if you correct it, however it is just a gut feeling and it will always be.
Correlation and cause, I am sorry even linear as you say is no proof. And you know that.
Only way to get it right is to isolate 1000 children and do it right if you can and measure the results if you know how, and then even the experiment was pointless. It is not possible to isolate the cause effect what you want to measure to draw this conclusion.
Psychologists should stop trying to fit in science, because there is nothing you can proof significantly with control groups, What works for one kid doesn't work for others. Every conclusion in the direction of this talk is another effort to wanting to treat a mass efficiently. Every kid needs a specialized treatment. Some kids need to run 5 miles, 3 times a day in the forest and we stuff them 9 hours in a confined school-class and feed them ritaline. Just because they don't fit in the government ideal.
First thing I noticed 0:13 in to this talk... His own presentation spells his name "Grey", but the TEDx folks superimpose the words "Peter GRAY" onto the bottom left of the screen AND on the title of this "The decline of play | Peter Gray"
I'm assuming he spells his own name in his presentation correctly as "Grey", so I'm assuming that ought to be corrected?
When my kids go out I am mostly afraid of cars. Young guys showing off, or excited shoppers speeding towars the next shop. Will they stop in time if my son drop the ball and cross without thinking?
Also people do not walk or bike anymore. I am one of the very few walking to the soccer field with my kids. Most people drive.
Since the streets are free of bikes and pedestrians, cars drive faster, and fewer venture in the street.
Is there a Video with german subtitles around? If not, is anyone able to put one together (I could stand for the Translation if needed).
FINALLY!
'Killing Monsters' by Gerard Jones explains the need for fantasy play in children
My professor made us watch this video along with some others for a paper and honestly, I dont think he's listening to this speaker. We have so much homework and he has the audacity to make us watch a video that says we need less school lol wow.
College is voluntary
We need to put the "child" back into "childhood".
I told my son's teacher that I would be rejecting unnecessary homework. I have him focus on what he needs and toss what he doesn't. Despite the fact that he's doing exactly what homework is intended for, I was informed that he would be punished for not having his homework finished and his grade would be negatively affected. I finally got the principal to stop the teacher from depriving him of recess but his grades will suffer. Kids need time to be kids. By the end of the day our kids are working 8-9 hours a day before they have to shower, eat dinner, and go to bed. It's ridiculous.