Historian tackles the decline of play in a child’s life

Yesterday’s New York Times had a review of Howard P. Chudacoff’s new book, “Children at Play: An American History” (New York University Press). It says, “like a yellow line smack down the middle of a highway, ‘Kids should have their own world, and parents are nuisances,’ said Mr. Chudacoff, a professor of history at Brown University.” Note the photo where the author sits ALONE in a playground!

What I like about this book as differentiated from Elkind’s new book is the historical context that play has declined. Professor Chudacoff pinpoints this decline to the rise in commercial toys and Disney film-tie-ins! This is an interesting premise. His insistence that PARENTS, by and large, are the cause of this decline leaves the children’s minister with an interesting sense of pause. Parents anxiety, once again, seems to be the cause of a child’s denial of free play.