Education has evolved over the years to adapt to developments in knowledge, technology, and life outside of the classroom. As a result, children’s skills and focus throughout the first 18 years of their lives look different for each generation.
Despite the changing modes of delivery and learning content, one would expect the goals of schooling to remain the same. However, in many schools across the United States, this is not the case. In an attempt to improve school test scores, schooling has been changed entirely, impacting children in the long term in ways that may not be obvious at first.
Learning through attending school is not only about being able to read, write, and solve math problems. It’s also about developing lifelong social and behavioural skills. When looking specifically at how schools have changed over the past decade, one notable aspect, specifically in the U.S., is the decreased focus on play.
Play, in this context, refers to more than simply having fun. Rather, it refers to giving children the opportunity to be creative, collaborate, problem solve, and work on fine motor skills. Teachers and child development specialists are aware of how important play is to children’s ability to perform well in various aspects of life, both in and outside of school. It also plays a major role in cognitive, social, and emotional development. However, administrators and policymakers tend to have their own agendas that don’t always align with this knowledge.
Unfortunately, many schools in the U.S. have shifted their focus from child development to improving test scores. They base academic achievement on numbers rather than on overall improvement and long-term learning. Although it may be argued that schools should be heavily focused on academics, having an overall goal of students being able to perform well on standardized tests doesn’t take into account how recess, gym class, and other social and hands-on activities develop skills children need to succeed as they progress through their schooling and their lives post-grad.
Some argue — as laid out in Amanda Morgan’s Not Just Cute blog — that in order to ultimately decrease high school dropout rates and low test scores later on down the line, schools should become more focused on academics, even as early as the preschool level. At the same time, others argue that the decreased presence of play in schools is correlated with increased obesity, ADHD, and a lack of social skills.
However, Morgan points out that play and academics do not need to be mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to young children. Instead, academics can be integrated into play and vice versa. For example, math can be integrated into observing how many crackers are at the table if each child sitting at the table has the same number of crackers. Likewise, identifying colours and shapes can be integrated into arts and crafts activities.
In a blog post titled “Why I Don’t Like Play-Based Learning” by Happiness Is Here Blog, the definition of play is challenged. It’s noted that “If you have an agenda, if you are requiring them to do it, if you have to make it ‘fun’ to get them to comply, if they are not free to stop at any time, then it is not play.”
Although schooling has changed over the years, play should not. While certain lessons may be more effective when turned into games that involve exchanging cards, throwing a ball or running around, at the end of the day, children still need to play. Contrary to popular belief, recess is an essential part of development and allows children to do what they would like to do, with no adults telling them what they should be doing instead.
That is to say, while academics and play can be merged, time for unstructured play is also just as crucial to children’s development. The issue then lies in schools choosing to limit recess to only a couple of times per week, in the same way students may attend an art or music class a couple of times a week.
Constantly constraining children to do certain things at certain times doesn’t give them space to grow. Additionally, parents and schools pushing children to focus solely on performing well academically are also associated with increased rates of anxiety, depression and suicide, according to the philanthropic organization Stand Together.
Teachers are aware of just how important it is for students to have daily unstructured playtime. However, the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as the Every Student Succeeds Act that replaced it, both put pressure on schools to work to ensure students meet certain standards. They were put into place in response to overall low scores on standardized testing. This means that teachers who teach as low as the kindergarten grade level have been pressured to keep children sitting at their desks receiving instruction and participating in academic activities as often as possible and for extended periods of time.
A high school history teacher and TikToker who goes by “Miss Redacted” has created various videos on the topic of schooling in the U.S. Being a teacher herself, she shares her perspectives on the current education system and how it’s affecting students. She makes note of the learning abilities of her students, as well as their attitudes towards education.
Overall, Miss Redacted takes to social media to express concerns she has about these students meeting their full potential. She has highlighted the connection physical activity has with being able to read or hold a pencil and how many of her students have struggled with holding pencils for extended periods of time when partaking in standardized assessments. She has also brought up how students are rarely held back in schools anymore. As a result, students who should be held back but aren’t being led to believe they will continue to move forward in life despite not meeting basic requirements.
In Canada, the importance of recess is recognized, and many experts, such as those from the Canadian Public Health Association, argue that it’s important that it should not be withheld from students, even as a form of punishment. Instead, what poses a barrier to students being able to partake in play is the prevention of risks related to safety. In order to prevent bullying or injury, adults often closely supervise students while they are out for recess, according to the Canadian Public Health Association.
Restrictions may also be placed upon students surrounding what equipment they can play with and whether or not they are allowed to play games that involve physical contact, such as tag. The COVID-19 pandemic posed much more extreme barriers to play, as children were spending a lot of time at home, and when they were at school, they were placed in small cohorts and encouraged to keep a distance from one another.
Ultimately, play is important, but sometimes it may involve putting children at risk. While the benefits of play may not be worth the risk of the spread of a viral disease, constantly policing children and what they are doing can cause more harm than good.
Many children are put in situations where the focus is on school performance rather than their personal success. While academics are often seen as the core purpose of schooling, time for children to be involved in non-traditional activities is just as important. Whether that be playing with sensory toys or playing tag outside, giving children the opportunity to play is what builds their fine motor skills and ultimately contributes to their success and abilities as they get older.