Over the last fifty years, a sense of hope and control has been stripped from the youth. It’s no secret that children face higher levels of depression, anxiety, and suicide than ever before. To an extent, these trends correlate well with the decline in play. Limits were placed on children as it’s thought that a child’s natural pursuit is a waste of time.

And that is wrong. Wanting to explore isn’t bad, it’s beautiful.

My family said I was mischievous as a little kid. Extremely mischievous. They even told me I almost got the house on fire once but I have no recollection of such actions. However, they do have photo evidence of me whacking the piano with a ruler so I’ll believe them for now. My fiery personality got me in trouble day after day and for that, I mellowed down.

Growing older, my parents felt I was responsible enough to make my own decisions and gave me the green light to take a step back from my academics to spend more time exploring the world. With this time I found what I wanted to do and who I wanted to become. From that moment forward, I sprinted.

During play, children have freedom. Children are free to explore, do things they love, and understand that “I can do anything”. By taking this away from them, they are left hopeless. They have no reason to strive, no reason to be more because they never knew they could. Rules and regulations can protect a child from getting scars, but when wielded incorrectly, it will burn out the blinding potential of the youth.