This routine from actor/comedian Jeff Lewis may be, simultaneously, the reason for the existence of Streetplay.com and our choice for “video of the century.”  As Rod Serling would say, “submitted for your approval”…

It is like the Twilight Zone, isn’t it?  No further comment from us other than, “Get out and play.”  Thanks again to the ever perspicacious Lenore Skenazy for bringing this video to our attention.

We’ve mentioned Lenore Skenazy more than once here on our blog; here’s a video of her positing the idea that parents don’t necessarily need to get involved and drive their kids’ play, suggesting that it may actually be detrimental.  After Lenore, a bunch of mothers you’ve never heard of chime in, agreeing or disagreeing based on their own experiences.

It would have been preposterous, at least for me or anyone I ever knew as a child, for parents to hunker down with us as we played stickball, skully, or anything else outside.  That time was referred to as “going out to play” by parents and kids alike.  We figured things out on our own, learned basics of fair play, wrote our own script for the day.  And had fun.

I did play board games like Scrabble enough with my parents, but that’s not what I remember as “play.”  What do you all think?

The latest thing in children’s play?  The recess coach!  This is a great listen from NPR’s Tell Me More program, featuring Jill Vialet (president and founder of Playworks), and NYC’s own Free Range Kids evangelist, Lenore Skenazy.  Even Lenore, who scoffed at the idea at first (we’re guilty on that one too), sees some benefit beyond the knee-jerk “harumpfing.” This is mainly because no one is teaching kids any “actual reality” games to play anymore; the traditional way that kids learn games–from older kids–is going away because the older kids don’t know the games nowadays either!

Listen and decide for yourself… and remember that Streetplay’s Rulesheets are always there if you want: print them out and give them to your kids.

Many of our loyal readers are directed toward Streetplay because of nostalgia, wanting to recapture memories of the good old days, the simpler times.  In fact, a lot of people adopt a crotchety, self-anointing attitude in this regard, a rejection of what “these kids today are doing” in terms of their personal time and entertainment.

A thought provoking piece was posted on LiveScience.com yesterday that has some significance and overlap with these sentiments.  While mainly concerned with recent science and studies concerning the phenomenon of children who are bullied, a phrase stuck out in terms of Streetplay sensibility:

Unstructured playtime — that is, when children interact without the guidance of an authority figure — is when children experiment with the relationship styles they will have as adults.

Bullying is a serious issue that is becoming more apparent and reported in the mass media, and may actually reflect an increase in its occurrence in American society (instead of being the media’s “flavor of the day”).  It begs the question: is the combination of hysterical, overscheduling, overprotective parenting (witness Lenore Skenazy’s Free Range Kids blog, sane reportage of the problem), combined with the rampant, time-sucking, physically isolating use of electronic media (witness the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest report on children’s media usage) a formula for creating socially dysfunctional, ready-to-be-bullied children?

All this just leads me to restate the Streetplay mantra: Get out and play.

Studies Reveal Why Kids Get Bullied and Rejected | LiveScience

I’m pondering the state of things as we enter the second decade of the 21st century.  While I’ve been told that my crystal ball is a bit cracked, certain broad trends seem extremely clear. Politics will get increasingly bizarre, 3D movies are here to stay and more to the point of our blog, although we’ll continue to see an occasional news item about stickball and other “old time” games, there will be no resurgence of children’s participation in unsupervised, unstructured outdoor activities. In fact to the chagrin of any middle-ager recalling joyful memories of playing kick the can, the main form of entertainment at this point seems linked in to computer. Now while I believe good things can be said about Wii Fit and imaginative play inspired by video games, clearly, much has been lost.

Since starting my second career as a social worker about five years ago, my primary focus has been working with children who experience difficulties with social interactions.  Many of the kids are considered to be on the Asperger’s/Autism spectrum or diagnosed with ADHD. Most find computer based games quite enjoyable, few go outside much to play, or even engage in board games or other non-electronic indoor interactive activities. Being the “street play type of guy” that I am, I’ve looked for opportunities to engage the kids in outdoor activities, and when I’ve been able to include this as part of the therapeutic experience, I’ve noticed some interesting results. I’ll use one example to illustrate the point.

During one of my initial work placements, I counseled Jimmy (not his real name), a 10-year-old boy with ADHD, some learning difficulties, and significant behavioral issues, many of which were clearly compounded by two years involvement in the foster care system before being reunited with his family.  For the first couple of months when I saw Jimmy our focus was playing with Lego’s and other toys we had in the office, but when spring weather came I suggested we take a rubber ball outside and throw it around. We started with a simple game of catch. Jimmy clearly had not had much experience throwing and catching however he loved running and seemed to enjoy the physical release that accompanied the experience of chasing the balls. One day I showed him how to throw the ball against a wall and painted a chalk box as a target, which eventually led into our own stickball game.  On another occasion I demonstrated how to slap the ball against the wall and keep the activity going for a cooperative handball experience.

We were playing in a seldom used parking lot surrounded by a couple of concrete walls and our games reflected this environment.  In fact, we started to develop a competitive game unique to our specific situation, which we called “bonk-ball” because whenever the ball was thrown against the wall it echoed a bonking sound. Briefly, you got a point by simply throwing the ball against the wall and catching the return. Only the person who “served” was allowed to score points and you served until the other person caught the ball.  The field was simple, composed of three parking spots, the first next to a wall, the adjoining spot, a little further from the wall and the third spot further still.  We each had zones in which we were restricted and could move only within our own, Jimmy’s being the 2nd spot, mine the 3rd.  Given the fact that Jimmy’s zone was closer to the wall theoretically he should have been able to win every time. However this required him to maintain focus on the task at hand (throwing and catching the ball) and not let himself get distracted or try too many fancy tricks. Since keeping a focus was a difficult thing for Jimmy, I had many opportunities to get the ball.  Given my size and familiarity with throwing/catching, I could easily score and was thereby able to control the game, without him knowing.  I’d keep the score and competition at an ideal point in order to maintain his level of concentration.

We were only getting together once a week, so Jimmy’s play time was limited, however, I noticed a rapid improvement in his abilities to throw, catch and manage physical space.  As he improved, we added new rules and limitations, which kept the game competitive and made it more complex.  I began to insist that he announce the score before each throw, which meant he had to consistently add, subtract and use his short term memory – all things he needed to work on.   And again, the use of the skills meant that they too began to improve, at least in this environment.

Then of course, there was the bigger picture, the context that the game was played.  Aside from the physical and mental challenges involved, Jimmy was learning how how to play by the rules, negotiate new rules, reach agreement in ambiguous situations, and deal with both winning and losing.  That’s a pretty good group of handy life skills one needs to succeed in any society.

Jimmy’s family moved away, so I won’t be able to learn how things worked out for him. And truth be told, I’d probably never be able to actually determine the impact of our game – life’s way too complicated for that.  Still, I think how we created an experience that tested him, pushed his limits, and included come from behind victories, defeats and other moments of drama that he will always remember.  And that’s something I’d wish for all the kids.  For although our children have all kinds of devices providing entertainment and calling their attention, there seem to be many simple, glaring gaps that will not be filled in this brave new world.