Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/truce-family-play-plans-encouraging--families-to-play-together-in-the-media-age/5022394/
BOX:“Children’s play today is much less creative and much more scripted, based on TV shows and movies,” reports Kathy Hardy, the director of Winnetka (IL) Community Nursery School, who has been in the early childhood field for over 30 years. “Another thing I’ve seen change over the years is children’s abilities and interest in art. I think that is because so few are experimenting at home with blank paper and crayons at the kitchen table while Mom cooks dinner.”
A teacher in Atlanta reports seeing a family with three children, including a preschooler and two elementary-age kids, all glued to individual screen devices as they eat their dinner at a restaurant �" never once talking to or looking at one another.
At parent-teacher conferences, teachers report asking parents what they do together as a family at home. Do they ever play together? Play together? A common response is, “Well, we take them places, like to restaurants and movies, they play on my iPhone, and we watch TV together or read books, if that’s what you mean.”
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Play Deficit Disorder?
TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) hears from many teachers across the country reporting stories like these. They also say many children do not ...