Different people have different views
about the philosophy of play however on a personal view the philosophy of play
is that it is an essential part of children’s lives that allows them to enhance
developmental learning skills. It influences skills that children need to
continue to grow and develop. It also allows children to discover their
personalities and be free spirited. During play children are able to develop
social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical abilities. Play allows
them to be creative individuals and become problem solvers.
Children are able to develop certain
learning skills on their own however, without their families, teachers, and
peers being “mediators” to their growth and development they would not be able
to expand on their learning skills. According to Rogers and Sawyers (2010) children’s
play can be influenced by adults for “children’s play is affected by their
relationship with families, teachers, and peers and the way we treat children
and our attitude toward play make a difference in children’s play” (p. 78). Bredekamp
and Copple (2009) stated that there should be a balance of adult and child
guided experiences and “in developmentally appropriate practice it is the
teacher who takes responsibility for stimulating, directing, and supporting
children’s development and learning by providing the experiences that each
child needs” (p. 17). By creating an exciting, fun, and safe learning
environment with age appropriate materials, it would allow children to explore
and be given the opportunity to learn independently through their play.
In today’s
society technology has become the pathway to our future. Although technology
has improved many areas in engineering, medical discoveries, telecommunication,
and transportation, the time spent on technology consumes and reduces the time
children are involved in play and physical activities. Technology becomes a
negative influence in children’s healthy lifestyles. Children are exposed to cell
phones, television, computers, IPads, and IPods. The world of media and the
wide world web have been at the fingertips of young children. The lifestyle of
children has narrowed down to being fixated looking at a screen for
entertainment. Some of the information children receive are premature and
violent, therefore they act out what they see and sometimes portray negative behavior.
I think technology is replacing physical development and promoting unhealthy
lifestyles.
As I was reaching
articles for information on the negatives of technology and children’s physical
development, I was surprise to see that there were many articles promoting
technology and explaining how it can become a positive element in children’s physical
development. According to Johnson and Christie (2009),
implementing computers and digital toys that provide opportunities of children
learning, children are able to develop domains they need to grow and develop. In
the research it states “children need time to become familiar with computer
hardware and specific games before they will engage in real play” (p. 285).
When children are engaged with computers they are able to get involved in
social interactions. Computers that provide open-ended software allow children
to be creative and they are able to use what they saw on a computer screen to
stimulate imagination, creativity, challenge, and curiosity during physical
activities (Johnson & Christie, 2009).
I believe technology will continue to
advance and children are going to be exposed to all that it brings, however educators
must find a way to continue to enforce the importance of children being active
in play and physical activities that promotes their physical development and
healthy lifestyle. We want our children to be knowledgeable of different technology
since it is a way to their future, but we also want them to grow up to be
healthy.
*What are your views on how technology has
affected children’s physical development?
References
Bredekamp,
S. & Copple, C. (2009). Developmentally
appropriate practice (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
Johnson, E. J. & Christie, F. J. (2009). Play and digital
media. Computer in the Schools, 26, 284-289.
Rogers, S. C. & Sawyers,
K. J. (2010). Play in the lives of
children (9th ed.). Washington,
DC: National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
