环球英语 — 687：The Importance of Play
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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Robin Basselin.
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And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Play. It is something that every child does naturally. Play is fun. It is joyful and it is done freely. Play does not require a goal or end result. In fact, many people define play as a joyful activity that appears to have no purpose.
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Play is basic to childhood. But as people grow into adults, they often lose their desire to play. Many adults think play is foolish and unimportant. Often, parents encourage their children to play less. They believe extra studying, music and organized sport are more helpful. However, more and more experts are arguing that play is necessary to human development. Today’s Spotlight is on the mental, emotional and social importance of play.
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Charles Whitman was a 25 year old engineering student at the University of Texas in the United States. He was a former soldier, a husband and an intelligent person. He was well liked by many people. And he seemed like a very normal person. However, in August of 1966, Whitman did a terrible thing. He climbed to the top of a tall building at his university and shot many people. He killed 14 students and hurt 23 other people. At the time, this was the largest mass murder in United States history. The actions of Charles Whitman shocked many people.
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What caused Whitman to do such a terrible thing? The Texas government asked a doctor named Stuart Brown to find the answer to that question. Brown was a psychiatrist - a mental health doctor. He gathered together an international team of doctors and experts to study Whitman’s case. The team found that there were many things which, together, caused Whitman’s sudden violent act.
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At the time of the shooting, Whitman suffered from stress, severe headaches, and many mental and physical pressures. He struggled in school. His parents were divorcing. Whitman felt out of control. And he did not know how to manage his stress.
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But all people have stress in their lives. What made Whitman different? As a child, Whitman’s father hurt him physically and emotionally. The team of experts suggested that because of this abuse, Whitman did not know how to react normally to stress. However, the experts noted another possible cause. This cause surprised many people. Dr. Brown explained,
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“The team investigating Charles Whitman’s life and the causes of his actions identified his life long lack of play as a key reason for his murdering actions.”
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Lack of play? Could that really cause such terrible actions? At first, it seems like a strange reason for violence and murder. However, since 1966, Dr. Brown has studied many other violent criminals. And he has found a similar lack of play in many of their lives. Today, Dr. Brown is an expert on play. He has studied the play life of over eight thousand people. And he has found important connections between play and positive human development.
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Dr. Brown is not alone. More and more experts are beginning to recognize the important ways that play helps children learn and develop.
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Play is a basic way that children explore their world. Through playing, children learn many things. Play is also important for brain development. Experts say that the most important kind of play is free play. Free play is when children choose how to play. It is a kind of play that involves imagining and creating. Free play can be done with basic toys like blocks or baby dolls. However, free play depends on the child starting and managing the play process. Studies suggest that free play increases creativity and problem solving.
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Play also helps children learn many important social skills. When children play together, they learn how to work together. When parents are not involved, children must learn how to take turns, compromise and solve conflict. Through play, children also learn how to set their own rules. By trying new things and even making mistakes, they learn how things work best. This helps children learn to organize their world.
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Free play also increases communication skills. Children use more words when playing with other children. They also use more complex sentences. This happens because adults more easily understand childlike communication. A child does not have to work very hard to communicate with adults. They can use shorter sentences with fewer words. However, communication between children must have more detail and explanation. A child must be clear and provide enough information for their friends to understand.
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Surprisingly, children also increase their language skills when they play by themselves. This is because children often talk to themselves during free play. This kind of private talk helps children guide themselves through the play process. It helps them to think through problems, express emotions, and encourage themselves. This basic process is called self-managing.
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Self-managing is a very important product of free play. In fact, some experts believe this may be the most important part of play. By playing alone or with other children, a child learns how to manage themselves and their world. They experience problems and they learn how to react. This basic skill is what helps people positively manage stressful situations. And this is a skill that many criminals, like Charles Whitman, lack.
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For these reasons, and many more, the United Nations considers play a child’s basic right. The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child says,
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“Every child has the right to rest and free time, to be involved in play activity correct for the age of the child and to be freely involved in cultural life and the arts.”
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Sadly, play all over the world is decreasing. Some children live in areas of war and violence. Other children are forced to work during their childhood. And still other children live in poverty and hunger. However, even in many wealthier areas of the world, particularly in cities, free play is decreasing.
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Children in these areas have plenty of time and resources, but they still play less. Often, their time is spent watching television or playing video games. This kind of play is not active. Experts say that this is not helpful free play. There is also a rise in more structured, adult managed play - things like organized sport, educational competitions and music. These things are good, but too much adult managed play keeps children from managing their own play.
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People like Dr. Brown and the United Nations Children’s Fund are working to educate people about the importance of free play for child development. However, Dr. Brown is clear that play is important even after childhood. He told the radio program, Speaking of Faith,
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“If you look more closely, you find that the human being is designed biologically to play through out life. When one does not play at all or very little as an adult, there are negative effects: deep sadness, difficulty with change and loss of humor. These are important things that help us to manage in a world of many demands.”
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