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What are the areas of our culture most in need of “play hygiene?”

Most adults have “forgotten” what it was like to engage in free play when they were kids. And truthfully, they may have not had much experience with free play when they were young. Beginning in preschool, the natural mayhem that 3-5 year olds engage in (normal rough and tumble play) is usually suppressed by a well meaning preschool teacher and parents who prefer quiet and order to the seeming chaos that is typical of free childhood play. We need adequate play hygiene in preschools so that both parents and preschool teachers recognize the difference between dangerous out of control boundary-less anarchy, and normal play-- diving, screaming, chasing, even some punching. When there are smiles and continuing friendships, rambunctious play is healthy. The awareness on the part of parents and teachers of the value of free child-organized--meaning lightly supervised--play for elementary school children at recess is another area where greater insight about play hygiene is needed. Play should also be used with teachers in their classroom, and by parents when they help their child with homework. Learning should not be drudgery. Play promotes true intellectual curiously. It has been shown to increase lifetime performance, just as adequate recess time leads to increased long term academic accomplishments.

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Change is the mantra of the age of Obama. But what essential aspects of human nature best prepare us for change and for the unexpected? The world is now particularly fragile economically and braced for major stress and the need for change.

A new Science of Play is emerging that, I believe, provides a  salient  approach to the urgent need to facilitate healthy changes in our society.

A close look at the evolution of play behavior, an instinctive force that becomes more complex the smarter and more social the creature, reveals important long-term survival data, based on our biological design. It has been long known that the brain stem of all vertebrates, that part above the spinal cord and below the cerebral cortex  and other higher centers, contains the essentials for survival, such as regulation of respiration, heartbeat, and the initiation of sleep-dream-waking cycles. Major disruption of any of these centers results in death. (though it takes a couple of weeks of sleep deprivation to kill you) These survival structures, though influenced by the environment nonetheless operate automatically such as the tracts of neurons that produce dilation or constriction of the pupil of the eye when illumination changes. All of these survival elements are similar in mammals, and their cellular architecture, and neurotransmitters are virtually identical. Each has a fascinating evolutionary history, now allowing comparative biologists to see our human similarities to other like endowed creatures. What is currently not appreciated, is that the structures that initiate and foster play are also located in the brain stem. So what has this got to do with our capacity for adaptive change? Plenty.

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How do you know play is important to both adults and children?

In my career I have reviewed more than 6000 life histories, looking specifically at a person's play experiences over his or her life. In studying these histories it has become vividly apparent that play is enormously significant for both children and adults. I began thinking about the role of play in our lives while conducting a detailed study of homicidal males in Texas. What I discovered was severe play deprivation in the lives of these murderers.  When I later studied highly creative and successful individuals, there was a stark contrast.  Highly successful people have a rich play life. It is also established that play affects mental and physical health for both adults and children.  A severely play deprived child demonstrates multiple dysfunctional symptoms-- the evidence continues to accumulate that the learning of emotional control, social competency, personal resiliency and continuing curiosity plus other life benefits accrue largely through rich developmentally appropriate play experiences.  Likewise, an adult who has "lost" what was a playful youth and doesn't play will demonstrate social, emotional and cognitive narrowing, be less able to handle stress, and often experience a smoldering depression.

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What is shared by mass murderers, felony drunk drivers, starving children, head banging caged laboratory animals, anxious overworked students, and most reptiles?...They don't play. What do most Nobel Laureates, historically renowned creative artists, successful multi-career entrepreneurs and animals of superior intelligence have in common?... They are full of play throughout their lives.

There are reasons to see play freshly as an exceedingly profound force of nature. More and more implications of its importance are being revealed through play science. This blog is grounded in evidence-based information about play behavior.

The time is now to more fully include its participation throughout our lives. The implications for our capacity to adapt, get along with each other  in small groups or globally, and therefore survive, requires us to embrace it more fully.

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Stuart Brown, M.D. is our guest blogger during the week of March 2nd. If you have any questions for Stuart Brown, M.D., add a comment to any of his posts.

Here is some more information about Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown, M.D. and Christopher Vaughan:

From a leading expert, a groundbreaking book on the science of play, and its essential role in fueling our intelligence and happiness throughout our lives.

We’ve all seen the happiness in the face of a child while playing in the school yard. Or the blissful abandon of a golden retriever racing with glee across a lawn. This is the joy of play. By definition, play is purposeless and all-consuming. And, most important, it’s fun.