Play Deficiency and Pandemic Anxiety
Since the emergence of COVID-19, kids have not been allowed to play in their usual manner. This is a problem because a lack of play hinders child development, growth of life skills and wellbeing. How kids process and express thoughts, feelings and concerns is through creative play. What is more concerning is that during the pandemic, there are fewer opportunities for them to ‘play out’ anxieties about the world with imaginative fun. Many children are back to in-person schools leaving little time to process pandemic insecurities in playful ways. What’s troubling is that children have an increase of extended seat and screen time. Socialization is still discouraged in the name of safety, yet kids have confided in me that mingling is what they all have craved. The kids are acknowledging a loss of wellbeing stemming from social deficit experiences. Overall, these stressors increase the rise of a ‘play deficiency’ that was a previous issue given school decline of recess and gym. Consider this in addition to a growing shortage of down time in kids’ lives. In the first decade of the lifespan, a loss of creative play has been linked to emotional dysregulation. Studies indicate increases in child depression, poor impulse control, aggression and weak social skills are linked to a lack of play. Brown (2016) states "The opposite of play is not work - the opposite of play is depression." Yet there is a trend to reduce children’s freedom despite Article 31 on children’s rights. The UN declares that “parties recognize the right of the child for rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts (2020).”
A good solution may be outdoor play in an open natural setting. Children can heal one another through imaginative interactive play. Given a chance to manage on their own, without adult directives, kids will naturally reenact, process and release many of the upsetting images and situations they have encountered in the past year. The simple act of free play soothes nervous systems to reduce anxiety and increase kid’s ability to self-regulate negative emotions. It is clear that time for play must be given priority at home and school to help kids recover from the psychological effects of the virus. Still for safety reasons, many parents are uncomfortable with allowing kids to play unsupervised. More safe local green spaces allowing young people distanced opportunities for positive adventure can prevent and alleviate pandemic anxiety.
(Brown, S., 2016). National Institute for Play. In: Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul.
United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, (March 2020).