A greater availability of free time for children and a defense against childhood boredom, so that from there they can find experiences and can explore their own knowledge, were highlighted by one of the most prestigious educators in the world who was in the last days of visit in Argentina. The proposal highlighted the importance of spontaneous games for boys, at a time when, instead, their lives seem to be increasingly regimented.
As reflected in yesterday’s edition, the Italian specialist Francesco Tonucci argued that the lack of free time during childhood threatens the development of autonomy and creativity in children. He highlighted that parents and guardians are today in demand for an agenda that is increasingly loaded with multiple activities for their children: learning languages or musical instruments, as well as sports and handicrafts, in addition to the school demand for five days of the week. week.
“The time for play, the most important experience during childhood, today has disappeared from the lives of our boys and girls, and this is very serious,” said the educator during his presentation, which was broadcast live on YouTube.
“Children have the right to free time, where there are no commitments, there are no things to do, a time that can be wasted, which is in their hands and in which we adults should not enter; which does not mean that we cannot accompany them, but rather that it is a time when they are in command, ”he explained.
He also alluded to the incidence of the impact of digital technologies on children and warned that, given the possibility it offers them of spending a lot of time inside their homes. Game consoles and screens in general mean that, when they reach adolescence, these children “tend to find it easier to connect with others and live the entire social experience in a virtual way”, in order to avoid their own problems that raises the personal and social experience of reality.
Regarding this last point -the use and abuse of digital technology-, it should be remembered that seven years ago teachers from Buenos Aires promoted the initiative that schoolchildren should not stop going to libraries to do their homework more complex, considering to books as more consistent sources of knowledge than those acquired through screens, while still valuing the enormous contribution of Internet networks.
It should be added that for years also the experts from one of the largest scientific poles in the technological world, Silicon Valley, in the United States, decided to send their children to the Waldorf School of Peninsula, in California, which is a school without computers In this establishment there are no televisions or PCs, only chalk and a blackboard, the old-fashioned way, thus seeking to broaden the bases of personal freedom. The boys also learn to knit, sew and bake bread, while they are only taught the rudiments of computers at 13 years of age.
Do not limit the autonomous capacity for exploration and children’s creativity, do not impede the experience of self-knowledge, give them back their ability to play, have free time and without commitments, as well as not prevent children from going out to play in the street – “we do not let take the children out into the street because we think the street is dangerous; but if the street is dangerous it is because there are no children”- were part of what was proposed by the visitor, who thus integrated a formative message that should be thoroughly analyzed in our country.
