 insulate them from the possibility of that. I think [insulating them] constricts their psyches and their futures much more,” Brown said. He also talks about the problem with helicopter parenting, sounding a bit like Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids, and the New York Times’s Lisa Belkin in “Let the Kid Be.”
I’ve long felt that empathy training and other efforts to reduce the impact of online disinhibition (helping kids understand those are human beings with feelings behind those profiles, screennames, avatars, and text messages) are important keys to beating cyberbullying. But now I’m thinking there’s probably a role for play!
* “The Serious Need for Play” in Scientific American
* Play deficit: In a just-released Harris Interactive survey for KaBOOM, “96% of parents said that playing outside was critical to keep kids physically fit, but only 17% thought children played enough outside.” Parents say their children spend less than an hour a day engaged in unstructured play outdoors, on average, and “92% of parents say that children today spend less time playing outside than they did when they were growing up.”
* The opportunities lifelong play presents, according to the National Institute for Play: transforming Education, Personal Health, Relationships, and Corporate Innovation
* “You Play World of Warcraft? You’re Hired!” in Wired and “Home-schooling with World of Warcraft” earlier here in NFN
* WeeWorld.com, Dizzywood.com, and Teen Second Life