Why Children Need Outdoor Play Persuasive Essay by scribbler
Why Children Need Outdoor Play
A persuasive discussion on the need for children to participate in outdoor activities for their optimal social and intellectual development.
# 153244
| 1,511 words
| 6 sources
| MLA
| 2013
|

Published
on May 09, 2013
in
Medical and Health
(Nutrition and Exercise)
, Nutrition
(Exercise)
, Child, Youth Issues
(General)
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Description:
The paper discusses how the culture of play in the United States is changing; children spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of screens and too little time outdoors. The paper considers the modeling children witness at home, that generally consists of parents glued to computers, games or blackberries, and also relates that when time is set aside in modern society for outdoor activities, it is too often of the organized kind instead of creative play sans adult supervision and directorship. Another factor the paper addresses is the fear parents have to allow their children to play unsupervised in a park or on the street; the paper quotes the term "helicopter parenting" and explains that there has been a shift in society's attitude about risk. The paper emphasizes how playtime is an essential ingredient in the development of healthy children in terms of social and intellectual skills, and this includes learning impulse control, problem solving, negotiating skills, creative thinking and team play.
From the Paper:
"One of the residual effects of the initial efforts of the environmental movement in the United States was the creation of dedicated "green spaces" in our communities (Young). The early environmentalists argued that our communities were losing valuable green space to urban development, housing developments, and the building of strip centers for small businesses. The environmentalists argued that there was a compelling need to create more parks and wilderness in order to protect the environment and provide wild life with more livable areas. In response, politicians throughout the United States responded like politicians do and began building more parks and setting aside more land for wilderness growth. Everyone should be happy but, unfortunately, these additional parks highlighted another problem: no one to use them."For several years there have been a variety of studies and statistics available that suggest that the culture of play in the United States is changing (Eunsook). The studies suggest that children spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of screens of one sort or another. Whether it is a television screen, a computer screen, a video game screen, or a game boy screen the result is the same. Children are spending far too much time in front of them and too little time outdoors."
Sample of Sources Used:
- Center for Disease Control. Barriers to Children Walking to and from School. Research. Atlanta: CDC, 2005.
- Eunsook, H. "Culture and Development in Children's Play." Eunsock, H. Making sense of developmentally and culturally appropriate practice. New York: Peter Lang, 1998. Chapter 2.
- Frost, J. A History of Children's Play and Play Environments: Toward a Contemporary Child Saving Movement. New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Kaiser Family Foundation. Children and Video Games. Research. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation, 2002.
- Valentine, G. & McKendrick, J. "Children's outdoor play: Exploring parental concerns about children's safety and the changing nature of childhood." Geoforum (1997): 219-235.
Cite this Persuasive Essay:
APA Format
Why Children Need Outdoor Play (2013, May 09)
Retrieved December 07, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/persuasive-essay/why-children-need-outdoor-play-153244/
MLA Format
"Why Children Need Outdoor Play" 09 May 2013.
Web. 07 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/persuasive-essay/why-children-need-outdoor-play-153244/>