The kids are not all right. Young people are experiencing unprecedented spikes in mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. While there are many reasons for this, CT’s editor in chief Russell Moore finds that studies reveal an oft-forgotten factor: play.
He’s not talking about signing kids up for more activities or making sure they have something fun to do every night of the week. Instead, Moore points to social psychology research from Jonathan Haidt which shows that childhood has shifted from “play-based” to “safety-ism” that is defined by “over-supervision, structure, and fear.”
It’s natural to want to protect our children. Raising kids in the aftermath of a pandemic is uniquely unsettling, and increased access to news can leave us feeling like there’s danger around every corner. But Haidt, Moore, and even the Bible remind us that play, wandering, and learning how to live by doing are essential for human development.
Moore writes, “When his disciples wanted to know where they were going, Jesus would say, ‘Come … and you will see’ (John 1:39). When one of them wanted to know the way to the other side, to where they could find him, Jesus simply said, ‘I am the way” (14:6).’”
Our children need guidance on their journey to adulthood, to be sure. May we seek the wisdom to know when that guidance looks like holding their hand and when it looks like letting them roam.
