I would like to paint a scenario to aid what I’m about to talk about.

Olu and David are brothers. David is 6 years old and Olu is a little above 4 years old. The two brothers are calling themselves out to play.
'Olu, let’s go and play with Mike at the backyard.' David calls out to his brother.
'Ok. Let’s build paper aeroplane and fly' Olu replies enthusiastically as he runs towards the back door.
'No, let's build a house with the sand' David suggests
'No, me I will build my aeroplane' Olu insists
'Ok. Fine, we’ll do whatever you want' David replies
They both run out to meet Mike who is waiting for them with a paper kite in his hands.
As they barely get out of the house, Mummy who is doing the dishes in the kitchen calls out
'David, where are you going with Olu?'
'Mummy, we want to play outside' David replies
'Play? Come on, get back inside and read your books' Mummy is already angry at the thought
'But mummy we have finished our homework already' Olu protests
'I said get back inside!' Mummy insists
They both reluctantly get back inside the house.
Mummy thinks to herself
'These kids are too playful. So they have time to play around. How will they pass their exams? I need to enroll them for extra lessons to keep them busy and serious with their studies'

This is what is obtainable today.
Being a child nowadays is definitely different from what it was some 20 to 30 years ago. Kids today are faced with many pressures that rob them of the joys of childhood. The major source of this pressure is the school.
It is not surprising to find a child of barely 2 years old being enrolled in nursery 1(not daycare!). These kids get into school so early and then begin a life of pressures, pressure to perform. Cool as it may seem to tell your friend 'my 2yr old daughter is already in nursery 1'. It is not cool at all.

When I was in primary school, we only spent about six hours in school but nowadays, kids spend up to eight hours in school and may even take extra lessons after school. Then the child comes home with much homework that he must submit the next day. All these rob the child of an essential part of growing up - free time to play. Yeah, you heard me right, play.
Children need to play as it is very important for their development. Play opens doors for creativity among children where they learn to use their power of imagination. It also helps them to develop good social skills because most plays involve other kids and requires group cooperation to make them interesting. Children also learn to take risks and think for themselves as they play.

It is sad that most primary schools today rarely have playgrounds and even if they do, the break time is too short for kids to engage in any meaningful play. And after the normal school hours, they are engaged in extra lessons again.
Ok. Let’s say it's the school's fault. But the parents are not helping either just like in the scenario above. When kids come home on holiday and are supposed to have their time to play, they are enrolled for holiday lessons and so the cycle continues. The child may be doing well at school but he/she is being robbed of an essential part of his/her childhood and it is definitely going to affect him in future.

The irony of this trend is that it does not make the kids of today anymore better than the kids from 20 years ago.


Inasmuch as you want your child to succeed in life, learn to take things in stages and keep the pressures at a distance. Any good and right thinking child would also feel the urge to want to succeed when the time comes.
My neighbour's child who is in primary school plays a lot but he still does very well in school. The boy is very smart. His dad encourages him to use his free time to engage in activities that he enjoys while making sure that he does his homework too. Pushing kids to succeed may be counter-productive. It is not advisable to make a child solve mathematics or do only school work all day long. School has its place and so does play.

Let's give childhood back to the children and let them develop normally. Remember your own time as a kid when you played a lot with your friends (running around the house, playing hide and seek, flying paper kites and building mud houses) and still did well in school. At least I did well and so did most of my friends because we all passed our entrance exam into secondary school and continued to do well.

We can't deny the fact that play is part of childhood. It makes them balanced individuals. If you deprive them of it, they will be missing a crucial part of what makes them children. There are cases of children getting depressed because of being forced to mature too quickly due to pressure and many of them become unbalanced individuals. So, I reiterate, let the kids play!

Feel free to contribute to this piece....

Op, this your scenario is EXACTLY what I do, guilty as charged, but would start to do differently from now.

Thanks so much for your time to put up this writeup.

Hello Mynd44, requesting a frontpage slot for this topic. Thank you.

Nice one

Comments...

Kids prefer to play more than eat

k

.

I remember the good old days; suwe, ten ten...

now na PlayStation, Xbox...

eleojo23: Originally posted by me on April 27, 2014 but was lost due to the hack.

what so you expect us to say?

There will always be the tendency for them to overdo it...that's when the parent/guardian comes in.

I will change from dis habit of keepin my kids indoor. But i do play,sing,dance nd do lots of fun stuffs wit ma girls. Isn't dat enough?. I just dont want dem to av bad influence from kids i dont know wat they r being tot in their homes....

justi4jesu: Kids prefer to play more than eat

have you seen ajepako children before?

Nice info

Exactly. Kids have to be allowed to enjoy their childhood so they don't regret later and try to make up for it like Michael Jackson. This is reason some ajebo kids are fat, 'cos they're always inside, no where to release all that energy and causes them to be obese and lazy in the future . There is time for everything.

[b]Kids Go outside and play?!


What happened to their X-Box One and Playstation 4 or their PSP Go and Nintendo DS?



Playing outside is outdated yo!

When last did you see a kite in the skies?

My kid brother is 12 years old and has never;
rolled a tyre outside,
made knock-out from paper,
made a paper gun,
played Police and thief inside uncompleted building,
made and tried to fly a paper-kite,
Hunted Lizards and squrrels outside,
played early morning peppersoup,
constructed and rolled a 'borres' (local toy car made with car bearings),
Made a Knock-out with Spark-plugs,
Made 'okoso' from Tiger-batteries and pen cover,
tried to make a local telephone with hair thread and matchbox,
Tried to learn how to do a back-flip,
tried his hands out at 'chinese-bending',
Played Ninja with wooden sticks and a cloth around his head,
Played that gane where you have to cross your fingers or if you get caught, you recieve a slap to the back of your hands.
Played counter-ball
Played 'Nearest to the wall',
Played in the rain,
Tried to sail his paper boat inside a gutter with flowing water after a rain storm,
e.t.c



But he presently owns; A Playstation 1,2,3 & 4, X-Box 360 & 1, Nintendo 64, Gameboy color, Game Bay Advance, Ds, D XL, PlayStation PSP, PSP GO, and has played almost every game that there is to play on these consoles. Its funny, but I recognise that the times have changed. Infact, the closest I saw kids play outside in my neighbourhood was to ride their bicycles, roller-blade and sit on their fences and wirelessly play their Nintendoes against each other.

Now thanks to the internet, they dont even need to leave their rooms to play with each other again. The last time I visted with my brother, he was playing Call of Duty Ghosts with over 5 friends and yet he was the only one sitted in his room with just a Pad and a headphones talking to himself and seriously focusing like he was in a room full of people.

I remember when my mum saw all the kids sitting on the fence playing Nintendos, My mum was like; Whats happening here, I told here that they were playing, she said how? I said they are playing wirelessly against each other.. She was so stunned!

Welcome to the new world my dear.. The expectation for kids are higher now. A kid wakes up by 6 and is at school till 5pm with barely 2hrs of break inbetween. My brother had to do School, extra-classes, Home-teacher, Saturday was Teakwando practice and Drama rehersals for school plays.. My kid sister was also the same with Saturdays being Ballet lessons and Music classes.

I saw a Chinese Kid on youtube who had mastered so much at his tender age it was shocking.

The truth is that the times have changed greatly from what it used to be.. I remember when we hunted lizards in the neighbourhood until they almost went extinct.



This is one of the leading causes of the increase in obesity in children. [/b]

Very good article...

Takeaways...

It is not surprising to find a child of barely 2 years old being enrolled in nursery 1(not daycare!). These kids get into school so early and then begin a life of pressures, pressure to perform. Cool as it may seem to tell your friend 'my 2yr old daughter is already in nursery 1'. It is not cool at all.

I started Nursery 1 over 3 decades ago at the ripe old age of 3....and even then, it was thought to be too early.

Once saw a 2 year old Nursery 1 student...sleeping in class (As she should be...)

When I was in primary school, we only spent about six hours in school but nowadays, kids spend up to eight hours in school and may even take extra lessons after school. Then the child comes home with much homework that he must submit the next day. All these rob the child of an essential part of growing up - free time to play. Yeah, you heard me right, play.

1,Primary school for me was eight am till one pm....and we had homework everyday.

2.Don't blame parents for the extra lessons....some do it due to bad schools....but most do it for the desire to have their child called a genius.

3.Every child must play for at least two hours every day...or else...

It is sad that most primary schools today rarely have playgrounds and even if they do, the break time is too short for kids to engage in any meaningful play. And after the normal school hours, they are engaged in extra lessons again.

OP, you need to see the way we build some schools....sometimes it is just a few blocks around a small compound and that's it. Thank God for the primary school I went to....space galore to play!

Thanks for this article...and thanks to the mods for moving it Front page.

My baby is nine months old but I have already decided that he would not attend extra lessons when he starts school and no holliday lesson too. Children need break from school work.

waow! Am guilty of preventing my little nieces and nephews from playing, with the idea of book first. But i think i have to rearrange my philosophy and have a change of mind.
.
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thanks so much @op

timsbee: I will change from dis habit of keepin my kids indoor. But i do play,sing,dance nd do lots of fun stuffs wit ma girls. Isn't dat enough?. I just dont want dem to av bad influence from kids i dont know wat they r being tot in their homes....

Its not keeping them indoors that'll make them not develop bad attitudes, afterall you are not the only one keeping your kids indoors, yet the world, morals, attitudes are getting worse daily.

Maybe because everyone is losing the "interpersonal" relationship that makes people feel for others?

Am now going to let my kids play,but under supervision o.

@Op, I love u so much. God bless you. I repeat, GOD BLESS YOU!!!.

When i was a child i enjoy it to the fullest, play hide and seek, go the river, play football and many more things.

eleojo23: Originally posted by me on April 27, 2014 but was lost due to the hack.

u have. d copyright?

eleojo23: It is not surprising to find a child of barely 2 years old being enrolled in nursery 1(not daycare!). These kids get into school so early and then begin a life of pressures, pressure to perform. Cool as it may seem to tell your friend 'my 2yr old daughter is already in nursery 1'. It is not cool at all.

When I was in primary school, we only spent about six hours in school but nowadays, kids spend up to eight hours in school and may even take extra lessons after school. Then the child comes home with much homework that he must submit the next day. All these rob the child of an essential part of growing up - free time to play. Yeah, you heard me right, play. [/b][/color]

Alot of parents do this not because they want the kids to be very smart in book related matters, rather they need a place they can keep the kids while they chase their selfish desires about (Money, fame, wealth, power and fun).

They keep the kids in school so they can have time for themselves without minding the child's development, they want the school to train the kids for them in all ways, delegating their parental responsibilities to the school teachers without knowing the background of these teachers.

Selfish world, selfish parents!

Old edited jist
Nice writeup anyway

story

play is good.