An article this week in the Washington Post described how a Connecticut school’s banning of cellphones has improved student life. This may come as no surprise to those of us who grew up in an era where cellphones didn’t exist, but for the generation of kids and parents who have largely never been without their electronic companion, the article makes clear that it’s a seismic change.
However, after a period of adjustment, attention in class has improved, social situations are no longer toxic, fueled by social media, and kids are actually connecting with one another. Parents, too, have gotten over their supposed need to be constantly in touch.
Reading, somewhat, between the lines, the upshot is that without the reliance on a computerized crutch, kids are forced to encounter the world.
That’s where play comes in. Maria Montessori often said that “play is the work of a child,” meaning that its role was to allow kids to engage with the world around them in a manner consistent with their developing cognitive abilities. That means that they are required to encounter the new, the strange, the unfamiliar, and adapt to either assimilate new information into their established schema or adjust the schema to accommodate new input.
The ability to avoid this by depending on the entertainment or familiarity provided by a self-curated experience on a phone essentially end run that process by providing palliative diversion that allows children to avoid new information and the discomfort that comes along with trying to integrate that into their reality. The process is called disequilibriation (literally throwing the child off balance), and, while it can be uncomfortable, it is essential to growth. New information restores equilibrium with the new information added to an ever-growing schema. At the preschool level that shows up in such developing such skills as understanding object permanence or learning how a block stack can balance.
These fundamental lessons prepare children for the world, whether in knowing how to confront a new situation, solve a problem independently, or become comfortable with the process of problem solving.
So, again, what does this have to do with the toy industry? On one level, I’m pleased to see some greater preference for classic toys that help develop these skills. Anecdotally, so far, Generation Alpha (born 2010-2020s) seem to be more engaged in the world, following music, interacting with friends, comfortable in multi-generation situations, etc. Like any new cohort, part of this is a reaction to what went before—the pendulum swinging and all.
Screens are part of their lives (The generation began the year the iPad was introduced.), but screens may not control their lives.
This is a good thing, and we as an industry need to be evangelical, if not downright messianic, in aggressively promoting the value of play for individual, social, and cultural development.
This promotion happened after both World Wars, the middle of the century as the Baby Boom changed family dynamics as never before, and it needs to happen now.
What can we do to expand on the work that’s being done to ensure that the culture as a whole understands and appreciates the role of play and its importance to children and the world?
What do you think?
