Editorial: Go out and play

Friday, Oct. 13, 2006 | 8:01 a.m.

A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics says that American children are a lot like their parents: stressed-out, overscheduled and in need of more time to play.

Rather than a schedule of dance classes, team sports and educational video and computer games, what children really need to grow up healthy and wise is more regular old playtime - preferably outside and without the direction of adults.

The report, released Monday, says that hurried lifestyles, changes in family structure and an increased focus on academic achievement and "enrichment activities" has led to the near-extinction of playtime in which children are left to their own devices and imaginations. And this loss is beginning to show in increased obesity, stress and anxiety among children, the report says.

Children who learn to occupy themselves - without the assistance of television or computer or video games - learn to use their imaginations and creativity to solve problems, the academy's report says. They also develop physical, cognitive and emotional strength when they learn to explore for themselves.

Certainly, there are challenges to address. Social pressures demand that parents who can provide the best of everything and activities for their children should do so if they want their children to succeed. But the academy's experts say that balancing a few of these activities with free, unstructured playtime offers what's best for children.

Another challenge, the report says, is that families who live in impoverished neighborhoods may not have safe places for their children to go out and play. The academy recommended that pediatricians lead the movement to create such areas in neighborhoods that need them.

With the competition for even getting into the right preschool becoming remarkably stiff, it is easier to agree with these pediatricians in theory than it is to skip that cello lesson or soccer game. But an afternoon spent working a jigsaw puzzle or looking for cloud pictures in the sky or building a pirate's castle from blocks is just what the doctors have ordered.