All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. It means that games and sports are absolutely necessary for everybody, even for future scholars. In ancient Greece, sports formed the principal part of education. Even in the advanced countries of the present day, they are a regular feature in school and college curricula.
In today’s technologically advanced world where we have no time for leisure, no time to stand and stare, it is not very easy to find time for sports.
And even if one finds some time to kick the ball where will he or she do that?
The rapid urban growth has resulted in shrinking of play spaces and children are bearing the brunt of it. Due to lack of playgrounds, small spaces in parks have become an alternative play area for children. Parks cannot substitute playgrounds. It is important to make space for adults but not at the cost of children’s space. Lack of play area is a major social concern which needs public and government intervention.
Unfortunately, these issues are neglected in our country. No doubt there is football, and some small-area games and occasional drills and exercises in some places; but they do not get the deserved importance. It is only recently that greater attention is being paid to them by the education authorities.
A dedicated space with required facilities based on age groups has become the need of the hour. The needs of the children change as they grow and the play spaces need to be divided based on different age groups of children.
For example, younger children need spaces which are close to their house and where the adults can watch over them. Older children need larger spaces where they can play organised games like basketball, football and cricket.
Just giving children an open space is not sufficient. We should also give them the required facility where they can use that space effectively.
The ‘culprits’ in this silent takeover of playgrounds or open spaces are the corporate bosses and the real estate mafia. Perhaps it would not be a balanced presentation of the picture. In fact, ‘takeover’ of empty spaces, government lands or parks is also happening with ‘consensus’ in the neighbourhood. The explosion of religiosity and the sprawling of religious establishments and growing unholy alliance between the ‘faith merchants’ and the law and order people is having a telling effect on such spaces.
Games and sports are as necessary for the mind as for the body. They keep us physically fit and enable us to enjoy the blessings of good health.
As a healthy brain can reside only in a healthy body, games and sports are also necessary for intellectual progress. No doubt there are physical exercises that may be taken alone; but there is a difference between such exercises and those taken in a company.
The former seems like tasks imposed while the latter combines the pleasure of company and competition with exercise. So the latter create a greater enthusiasm and greater interest than the former.
There are occasions when simple questions raised by innocent people, even by children, invite brutal wrath of the authorities.
Hence, it is a clarion call for us to raise our voice against the disappearing playgrounds which is snatching away the childhood from many youngsters.
(Contributed by Ziauddin Ahmed, Class VIII, Rai BahadurAnupchand Hindi Secondary School)