Let the Children Play!
Dr. Stuart Brown, a physician and psychiatrist say, “What do most Nobel Laureates, innovative entrepreneurs, artists and performers, well-adjusted children, happy couples and families, and the most successfully adapted mammals have in common? They play enthusiastically throughout their lives.”
That’s right Dr. Brown. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Play is even more important for children; it is essential to their development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.
Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child.
However, this birthright is challenged by forces including crisis, child labor and exploitation practices, war and neighborhood violence, and the limited resources available to children living in poverty.
Because every child deserves the opportunity to develop to their unique potential, let’s press for circumstances that allow each child to fully reap the advantages associated with play.
