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Whither the Next Steve Jobs
October 31, 2011
A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.
-Madeleine L’Engle
-Madeleine L’Engle
"The forecast isn't good. In an era of parental paranoia, lawsuit mania, and testing frenzy, we are failing to inspire our children's curiosity, creativity, and imagination. We are denying them opportunities to tinker, discover, and explore — in short, to play. Jobs played not just as a child but also throughout his adult life. He played to understand how things worked, then he played to invent new things, and then he kept playing to make those things singularly whimsical and 'insanely great'...
"We are raising today's children in sterile, risk-averse, and highly structured environments. In doing so we are failing to cultivate artists, pioneers, and entrepreneurs, and instead cultivating a generation of children who can follow the rules in organized sports games, sit for hours in front of screens, and mark bubbles on standardized tests.
"We say we are 'protecting' our children. We say we're setting them up to 'succeed.' Really, we're doing neither, and we're letting an entire generation down. The most fitting way to honor Jobs' legacy? Let our kids outside to play."
That's right, Exchange's Value of Play CD Book includes over 100 articles from Exchange and the HighScope Foundation. And the updated version includes the latest "Infant Toddler Toy Guide" by Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment (TRUCE). Issues addressed by the 100+ articles include...
- The Purpose of Play
- HighScope Perspectives on Play
- Advocating for the Value of Play
- Play in Practice
- Taking Play Outdoors
- Play Materials
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Comments (8)
Displaying 5 of 8 Comments [ View all ]OMEP-USA
Washington, DC, United States
I fully believe that there are some families who encourage their children to play inside and out, to read poetry, sing songs, and engage in trying out new activities. There will be another Steve Jobs-possibly at Pixar and even at Disney.
Keystone Adventure School and Farm
Edmond, OK, United States
Hey Darrell......Can you come out and play? If you've got the time, we've got the trees, the pond, the creek, the bikes, the jump ropes, the horses, llamas, chickens, sheep, goats, ( and all the poop that goes with them). But most importantly, we've got the kids who know how to play and show the taller kids (aka teachers) what's up.
Check us out at www.keystoneadventureschoolandfarm.com and come play at Keystone....We are serious about the business of play so that when these people are older they can find the play in serious business.
Keystone Adventure School and Farm is a working farm and art-based elementary school that values children and childhood while creating a safe place for all types of learners. We are a multi-aged, project-based and process oriented school where the kids begin their day by shoveling poop and end it with cleaning our 12,000 sq ft converted farm house. We build in failure believing it to be a key component to success. "From Poop to Polish" is the G rated version of a regular day at Keystone. And we were
GREEN before green was cool. Kinda like Kermit, the Frog.
The result of all this play and hard work? Divergent thinkers, problem detectives and solvers, barefoot builders, mental mathematicians, and awesome kids. Come on, Darrell...come out and play! Jenny Dunning:)
Brisbane, Australia
Love it! I do not agree .....there will be another steve jobs however they are probably either in school doing poorly by todays standards or maybe wagging to go and create what they see as beautiful/important. We are a resilient bunch. Think of the adverse situations previous generations have endured...World Wars etc and still great creative people rise from the adversity. Todays children just have a different kind of adversity but some will rise above it doing great things.
United States
Ironic that the person you choose to name made one of the very things that take away our own children's creativity-video games galore!
Denver, CO, United States
I think many in the early childhood field totally agree with this article. What puzzles me is that when it comes to policies and funding, we do not follow through. For example, in Colorado a group of early childhood 'experts' recently recommended the state do more to teach literacy in our programs. Not art. Not play. Not physical activity. Not music. But literacy.
NCLB is a disaster, and "race to the top" even more so. But where are the early childhood adovocates of play protesting these assembly-line approaches to education?
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