The need for play

One can't open a periodical these days without being confronted with new evidence for the importance to children of 'free play.'  Play seems to a strong evolutionary imperative.

Two articles in Scientific American caught my attention while I ate lunch today.


1.  The Serious Need for Play.

But in the 42 years since,  Stuart Brown has interviewed some 6,000 people about their childhoods, and his data suggest that a lack of opportunities for unstructured, imaginative play can keep children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults. 

I'll come back to Brown in a moment, but first....

2.  The Ethical Dog.

Professor Marc Bekoff argues that studying play in canids (dogs, wolves, coyotes) can teach us a lot about human socialization.

Morality, as we define it in our book Wild Justice, is a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate social interactions. These behaviors, including altruism, tolerance, forgiveness, reciprocity and fairness, are readily evident in the egalitarian way wolves and coyotes play with one another. 

Here are 4 rules that Bekoff and his students have discerned by video-taping and studying canids playing.

a.  Communicate clearly when you want to play (and not fight).  You are agreeing to a stylized set of rules.

b. Mind your manners. Animals consider their play partners’ abilities and engage in self-handicapping and role reversing to create and maintain equal footing.

c. Admit when you are wrong. After hurting a play-mate, send a message, “Sorry I bit you so hard—this is still play regardless of what I just did. Don’t leave; I’ll play fair.”

d.  Be honest.Individuals who continue to play unfairly or send dishonest signals will quickly find themselves ostracized. This has far greater consequences than simply reduced playtime; for instance, Bekoff’s long-term field research shows that juvenile coyotes who do not play fair often end up leaving their pack and are up to four times more likely to die than those individuals who remain with others.
 
The last rule is especially striking - since Stuart Brown's research (The need for serious play, above) all began with the study of convicted murders, drunk drivers and other violent individuals.

When he left clinical medicine in 1989, Brown began to investigate PLAY, and in 2009 founded the National Institute for Play


Before you watch this wonderful slide-show of a polar bear and a husky dog playing, read The Ethical Dog article so you can understand the role of the 'bow' in canid play (see image above). 

Or just Listen to Stuart Brown (TED, 2008) tell the story, and talk about PLAY.