Unprogrammed Development

              The environment that the children live in and the playing fields that they have play a fundamental role to the development of the child and also shapes the development of the civil society. Hart R. in ‘Provisions for Play’ talks about how spatial environment such as the streets and neighborhood provides children to interact with each other which leads to understanding each other and sharing cultural activities. Free-play depends on the shape and the formation of the environment that children live in.

               Roger Hart argues that free-play helps the children develop and also helps the society to develop. In order to be creative and flexible children need to touch, see, listen and experience the world. The free-play environment provides children to pass through cultural activities by singings playing and so on. However, Hart says that it is ironic in a way that poor neighborhoods have more freedom to play outdoors compared to the nations with more wealth. This depends on the streets being safe, peaceful and clean. He gives New York as an example, where the sidewalks are narrow, there is traffic and dust which does not provide an environment that children can respond to that’s why there are certain playgrounds. Now the concept of playing depends on supervised visits to the playground depending on the adult. As an example I live in Turkey Istanbul and our street had few cars pass by and was surrounded with threes. I remember when I was little starting from 7p.m. me and all the neighbors that were in similar ages would gather outside and play traditional Turkish games that were from different areas. Every kid would come out and play without caring how wealthy their parents were. Some children’s parents would be working in other children’s house but this would not make any difference. We would play outside even when it was dark. Today, I see my sister where her playing hours are arranged by an older sibling since she is taken to the park. Our street is more crowded with cars and concrete. Unlike my childhood, segregating people effects children’s social development since they fear and alienate people who are different. Every now and then similar to one of the play movement that Roger Hart talks about,  we close both sides of our street so that cars can’t pass through and let children play outside. I believe that children playing freely create certain peacefulness to the adults also.

                Environment that is structured effects the development of the child and the development of the civil society. The segregated places like the playground damages these developments compared to children acting freely and to the ones that are left alone and found ways to invent their own activities.

Zeynep Ercan