Their bedroom should be the very definition of a place of safety.<\/p>\n
Understanding and managing risk is critical for child development. It's a life skill they cannot live without. <\/p>\n
And we believe that it\u2019s all of our responsibilities to shoulder some of the blame and potentially help deliver some of the cure.<\/p>\n
We wrapped our children in cotton wool and told them they could be anything they wanted and they took it literally - forgetting they need to put the work in first to gain the skills to get there. We have created a generation of kids who have been trained to have a very short attention span. <\/p>\n
Going back to Piagets Child Development Theory, we didn\u2019t allow them time to complete all of the critical learnings at each stage, before they moved onto the next one.<\/p>\n
We have to change our own mindsets first to allow us to make things better for our kids and all of our futures. We have to expand our own risk envelopes on their behalf, be prepared for some mistakes and breaks along the way and let them live and breathe freely again. <\/p>\n
Homogenous Play<\/b><\/p>\n
Play has gone the same way too.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s become an homogenous offer globally, based on research and the path of least resistance by parents, that is almost entirely risk free.<\/p>\n
And IP based play is only adding to the problem. All of the TV the youngest in society consume is repetitive, sanitized and global in nature too. There\u2019s no localization and no space for imagination in the child's mind, as it's all been done for them. <\/p>\n
Like the UPF food, It\u2019s visual and audio crack.<\/p>\n
Once you pop you can\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s delivered in tiny five minute segments, often with a moral dimension to aid repetitive learning, but it isn\u2019t allowing space for imagination.<\/p>\n
Much of the IP based play is passive. It's five intense minutes of sensory overload. The entertainment happens around you. <\/p>\n
Alternatively, you walk through an area where the imagination is on show and these days, normally incredible.<\/p>\n
For the guest, it's a had the imagination delivered to the max, rather than enabling or encouraging imaginative play with others.<\/p>\n
It's essentially an insular or isolating experience.<\/p>\n
In a recent article in the Financial Times, they quoted a survey from 2022. In it, they said that 80% of the 55-64 year olds played out on the street and had the freedom to explore when they were young. Compare that to today and only 25% have the same opportunities. <\/p>\n
Why this matters<\/b><\/p>\n
There is nothing that will hamper the growth and development of the human race more than stifling creativity in young people.<\/p>\n
Without creativity, where will the next generation of imagineers, scientists, inventors and explorers come from? How will they be inspired to do new things, go to new places and find new ways to solve old problems? <\/p>\n
So as an industry we have a responsibility to help the future creators create.<\/p>\n
Their future is in our hands.<\/p>\n
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