In the excerpt of “Reclaiming the Power of Play” written by Stephen T. Asma, the author discusses about the power of play and what defines play. Play, as discussed by the author, is the “highest form of human activity” and is considered “vitally important for humanity”. Play is described as having three stages namely the “camel” where it is the stage where humans are burdened by the cultural, social, ethical and traditional commitments; the “lion” where it is the stage where humans rebel and go against the norms which is also the “holy-nay”; and lastly the “playing child” where it is the stage where humans behave just like when they are in their adolescences years which is the “holy-yea”. So what exactly is play?
The first claim is that play
…show more content…
Bertrand Russell (1932) wrote in his essay suggesting that humans do everything with reasons for their actions and not for himself which goes to show that play and leisure share a similarity in requiring mankind to think of others no matter what he does. However, because play is simply rest or downtime for the otherwise industrious soul which is a form of “relaxation of the soul” and not “proper occupation of leisure”, this means that leisure requires some form of activity in the line of work while play is just purely a period to let loose. Contrary to the latter, play and leisure correlates because if the working hours of normal man reduces, there will be more time for man to not only play and think about themselves but also ponder on the society issues. Aristotle stated that leisure is serious business because the Greek word for leisure is ‘skole’ which gives rise to the English word scholar indicating that leisure actually has some connections with knowledge and usage of the brain. On the other hand, the benefits of play comes only as a form of rest time like having naps. As stated by the Roman poet Juvenal (circa A.D. 100), Roman public duties saw a decline due to play or ‘mere amusement’ as quoted because humans were too self-indulgent and satisfied with what they possess that they ignored all other purposes for the greater good. Despite that, as mentioned above, play having two major groups shows passive and …show more content…
Based on an essay analysis written by Peter Gray, pure play occurs more often in children than in adults. In adults, play is commonly blended with other motives, having to do with adult responsibilities (Gray, 2008). The latter is a reason that play is an activity with that grown man do with and intention and not for relaxation and while leisure is and activity to allow the mind to have a sense of freedom and creativity but not intention, play is somewhat different from leisure. But leisure and play are similar in a sense that both help build certain attributes of people like increasing the social circle of an individual through social bonding. Austin Health (Austin Health Victoria, 2015) site states that leisure also gives people the chance to develop skills, friendships, and self-confidence and helps to enjoy new experiences, challenges and adventures and to stay healthy. This is evidence that both play and leisure helps human to create new relationships is the same way. The general consensus of leisure as described in the book “The Park and Recreation Professional’s Handbook (Hurd. & Anderson., 2011) is that there are three primary ways in which to consider leisure: leisure as time, leisure as activity, and leisure as state of mind. The claim that play and leisure is the same which goes to show that both are the highest form of human activity because playing is done during one’s leisure time and both
...society now classifies leisure as simply ‘free time.’ Time away from work or school, no matter how it is enjoyed, is more broadly defined as leisure today.
Thus according to Pieper, leisure is an attitude of the mind and a state of the soul that fosters a capacity to perceive the reality of the world. Pieper establishes that the ancient and medieval philosophers understood the great value and importance of leisure in doing work and thus, eventually led to building of great societies. He also points out that religion can be born only in leisure as it is only through leisure that actual worship of God is possible. Leisure has been, and always will be, the basic foundation of any culture or religion.
As a child, many individuals have free time where they can participate in leisurely activities often. Known as the preparation phase, leisure at this point is usually where a child forms relationships and set goals they wish to achieve in the future. This differs drastically from the establishment phase, where an individual is usually too busy to participate in leisure as much. At this phase, leisure is viewed as purposive, such as taking their child to a museum. The focus is generally not focused on just the individual themselves but rather on acting upon their previous goals to successfully reach them. The final phase is known as the reintegration phase where an individual reflects on the course their life has taken due to the preparation and establishing they have done. At each stage, there are constraints and facilitators that affect what an individual may do as leisure. However, there are other cultural and social factors that affect this as well. Ever since ancient times, an individual’s economic status is a factor that has affected their participation in certain leisure activities that they can afford or not. Today, this still occurs as some people can afford to do activities for leisure while others can not. There are other constraints that an individual can face as well based on where they live, their religion and what race they are. It is unfortunate that not all
Like the latter, an essay by Gray, P. (2016) also showed researches on play deficit. He found out that most professionals who succeeded and happy are those who were not deprived in playing. He then concluded that, play deprivation is not good for children and other things. It promotes anxiety, depression, narcissism, loss of creativity and
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
The problem of modern leisure has, throughout the years, been a well-discussed topic among many sociologists. Sociability, in this case, is one of the most universal forms of leisure that will be discussed in this essay. The theoretical framework for this discussion is provided by the sociological insights of Georg Simmel (1858-1918) as he argues that the “tumult of the metropolis” (cited in Frisby 1989, p80) creates inner barriers between people and suggests that “sociability” can surpass this problem. According to Frisby (1989), Simmel states that the city life has transformed the struggle with nature for livelihood into a struggle with other human beings for gain. This is further discussed as Frisby (1989) and Giulianotti (2005) describes how sociability can transcend this problem according to Simmel’s sociability theory.
Frost, J. L., Wortham, S. C., & Reifel, S. (2010, July 20). Characteristics of Social Play | Education.com. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/characteristics-social-play/
Article 31 from the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) states the right to play is for children to engage in activities freely that are age appropriate. All individuals should endorse equal opportunities for leisure, artistic, cultural and recreational activities. The right of play is important element for education as it is instrumental for achieving health and peak development. (Lester, S., Russell, W. 2010 p. ix) states that rest, leisure and play are combined into a child’s life to be controlled by each individual child not to be coordinated by an adult. Play is children being in control of their own doings; play is allowing children to create, explore, imagine problem solve and experiment in a way in which
...ctive. Play is an essential learning tool and one that must not be ignored within the classroom. It is a catalyst to help children develop socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively. It is not only an important part of a child’s development as a pupil but also a child’s development as an individual.
The first difference is that play is often. It is free-formed and voluntary. “Play is superfluous. The need for it is only urgent to the extent that the enjoyment if it makes it a need. Play can be deferred or suspended at any time. It is never imposed by physical necessity or moral duty. It is never a task. It is done at leisure, during “free time”. (Huizinga 1955) According to Huizinga, “play is something added to or spread over life” in which “we are able to choose courses of action and to adjust those courses based on the internal satisfactions we receive.” (Henricks 2006)
In the play deficit, the author believes that “The decline in opportunity to play has been accompanied by a decline in empathy and a rise in narcissism (Gray).” The increase of school works undermine the development of personalities. At the same time, there has been an increase
A very wise man; Charles Schaefer, once said “We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.” To begin with, there is no one explanation about what play really is, other than the fact that it holds infinite numbers of definitions according to every single individual. Play is just not a physical body movement involved in an activity, but more than that if you look outside of the box. For centuries, play has been practiced in its own unique way with not only children, but adults as well.
Viewed as activities that people engage in during their free time – activities that are not work oriented or that do not involve life maintenance such as work or sleep (Hurd and Anderson). Serious leisure is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist or volunteer activity sufficiently substantial and interesting in nature for the participant to find a career there in the acquisition and expression of a combination of its special skills, knowledge and experience (Stebbins, 1992:3). Work Cited Grant, Maddie. “Exploring the Future of Work: A New Definition of “Work”.
Western civilization uses Aristotle definition of what leisure is “a state of being in which activity is performed for its own sake or as its own end” (Grazia pg.13). The concept of leisure was first formed by the Greeks, Aristotle said that “the life of leisure was the only life fit for a Greek” (pg.19). They (Greeks) felt as if they could not succeed as a city state without leisure. There were many forms of leisure, gymnastics, wrestling, dance, theater, poetry and education among other things. The Greeks felt that mans ability to contemplate was as close to godlike that man could be, and it even separated them from animals.
Multiple scholars argue that leisure contributes to a happy life (Mitas, Qian, Yarnal & Kersetetter, 2011; Ballantyne, Ballantyne & Packer, 2014; Newman, Tay & Diener, 2014; Mitas, 2010; Knobloch, Robertson & Aitken, 2017). Still, it is difficult to understand the interplay between leisure and SWB (subjective well-being) due to the subjectivity of the concepts (Newman et al., 2014). Thereby, leisure is context-based and actor-related which causes that people experience leisure differently and also have diverse personal outcomes. This implies that the interplay between leisure and SWB is different per person. With this assumption in mind, I would like to discuss the question “How does leisure contribute to happiness”? First, I explain my critique