As the sun shone through the clouds after a light drizzle, I decided to take a stroll out in the open hoping to find a play group to enjoy a game of football. Quickly grabbing my favourite football, I wasted no time to get out in an excited state of mind.
To my utter dismay, I could not find a single group playing casually or a play area even in the nook of a street. With a bang I was harshly thrown into the stark reality of the tragic situation our generation faces!
“Where are our playgrounds gone?”
My journey to go deep into this question highlights a few points which need to be addressed with caution and care.
1. Lack of open areas
2. Too much influence of technology
3. Heavy burden of studies
4. Lack of physical exercise
5. Minimum interaction with nature
The lack of open spaces for children to use as their neighbourhood playgrounds is a big social issue these days.
The fast development even in rural areas are wiping out the open areas quickly, turning them into buildings for commercial or residential purposes. The losers in this bargain are children who get forcefully confined within the walls of their houses. The thrill of going out and playing with friends in the muddy field is unknown to the children of my generation.
I terribly miss it when my parents nostalgically reel out their days of exploring and playing in the open with their friends without hindrance. The bond of friendship that evolves from the daily play sessions eventually turns out to be the best and most loyal ones in our lives. The art of winning and losing and also to be there for each other — no classroom can teach this valuable life-lesson than playgrounds.
Most certainly we need developments but not at the cost of sacrificing our childhood.
An important question that arises while discussing this topic is that “will today’s children be out in the open if there were enough playgrounds?”
With the kind of access to technology they are seen most of the time glued to television, laptops, computer games, or cellphones. The real question is, “how many children in this ‘gameration’ would really care about playing outside?”
Given the kind of games and features available on the internet, it’s only natural that they get more and more influenced by it. But it is very important to teach children about observing limited use of technology or else eyes and health will be at risk.
With little help from the elders of the house, I am sure youngsters can be made aware of the dangers involved with the use of internet if not used safely and carefully.
Are the children of this generation lazy? At least a particular section of them prefers watching cartoons or computer games to playing physical games. Well, creating some awareness among children in this regard will certainly help, I think.
Lack of physical exercise will create a generation of weak personalities and make them prone to illnesses. Long hours in front of the computers and sitting in one position will only weaken the bones and alter the body structure.
In the long run, this is very hazardous to the health of the person. Playing out is absolutely necessary to gain Vitamin D from sunlight and maintain good health. Though we have to accept the changing times, we must be able to distinguish between good and bad at all times.
Interaction with nature is integral to human nature and civilisation as he himself is a part of nature and cannot stay away from it. The life lessons taught by Mother Nature are invaluable truths that one needs to follow and understand right from childhood.
Even the technology man has developed has had its roots in nature. Everything that man has invented or discovered is by observing nature and its aspects. But how many of us bother to spend time amid nature nowadays? Do we care to throw a stone at a mango tree full of fruits or run after butterflies? The little joys like these can be experienced only by interacting with nature and not in the virtual world.
The heavy burden of studies in this competitive system of the world has become so stressful that children of our times hardly have time to spare for play. The never ending homework, exams and projects are thrust upon us leaving us with no room for relaxation.
I cannot see that we are benefiting from this system of competitive education where we are struggling to be better than one another with regard to marks. The real focus should be on gaining knowledge through enquiring, exploring and playing and the knowledge thus gained will be a life-long lesson that will stay with us forever.
But sadly, we are just mugging up lessons from textbooks in suffocating classrooms and only reproducing them on paper during exams. The heavy bag that we have to carry up and down the school makes our spine curvy, thereby only pushing us to having permanent back pain.
Are we asking for too much if we wish to get rid of the stress and strain of exams which are inadequate to assess the real calibre of a person? The concept behind tests is to find how much knowledge a child has acquired; it should not be a trap to find what the child doesn’t know.
On playgrounds, children do not fear to err, they learn from their mistakes and carry on unlike classrooms where an error might just cost their grade and so they steer away from experimenting. But the serious question is, do we get the opportunity to enjoy our childhood these days? I seriously doubt.
The safety concerns that parents have while sending children outside also have played an important role in the diminishing number of playgrounds.
The social scenario has become so degraded that even kids cannot move freely unmonitored. These aspects lead children to resort to playing indoors which increase the risk of childhood obesity too.
The camaraderie, the brotherhood of yesteryear is missing in this era. It is never too late; we need to go back to revive our friendships, to light up the spark of mutual affection. The system around us is now urging us to step on another and succeed, but I suggest we need to learn to take those around us along while leading forward and there lies our true success as human beings.
Today we are just being moulded into robots who are told what to do. We long to freely enjoy a cool breeze and the fresh smell of Earth after the first rainfall without thinking about the homework or exams to get over.
We sincerely wish for a beautiful relaxed world where we can be free and play, enquire, explore and enjoy, learn and succeed with real knowledge gained from experience, without stress or strain, by imbibing good values — for that we need our playgrounds back as a first step; the natural platform which can transform us into the responsible practical citizens of tomorrow in the most natural way.
(Contributed by Agnivesh Jyotiraditya, Class X. The essay has been
adjudged one of the best write-ups on the topic “Where have all the
playgrounds gone”)