Growing up, most of us had the freedom of play and the ability to create. Our playtime is a place where we can learn and prepare ourselves for the issues we face as adults. Proper play gives us the opportunity to learn and use critical thinking. Kids who play all day are shown to be the happiest and brightest. However, our lives now are filled with resume filling and responsibilities to the point where we don’t have the time for play. Which is why play should be brought back. I was introduced to this philosophy by my teacher who is incorporating these playful aspects into our classroom. 

In this class, he tries to have a balance between freedom and structure. His approach to this is by implementing fun activities in class that seem to be preparing us for the AP Lang Exam next year. Most of the time, there is no homework assigned and most of our assignments are completed inside the classroom not outside. He mentioned his reasoning behind this playful attitude is to give us more control of our time outside of school.

This idea came from a Ted talk that mentioned as kids grow older we are stuffed down with assignments and responsibilities, losing our play time. Play is crucial to our development and allows us to be curious. It was shown that kids from previous generations had more playtime and less homework and we’re overall happier than today’s generations. The decline of play has caused a decrease in locus of control and increase in anxiety and depression. Children nowadays are more anxious than soldiers in the Civil War. Kids should never feel anxious when entering a classroom, unlike this specific class that feels like a sanctuary. 

Although some may think that this approach to teaching can lead to students losing discipline and their work ethic, I argue that in the long run it truly is helping us way more than any AP exam. Having good mental health and a healthy attitude towards learning is what strives students to become more intelligent. I think this type of attempt is an excellent way of teaching while also allowing us to be kids. Play is nature’s way of developing kids into bright adults and we should allow that to take place