Lawmaker: Kids need more sandlot ballgames, skinned knees and unstructured play
State Sen. Lincoln Fillmore waxes a bit nostalgic recalling the days when kids knew it was time to hustle home when the street lights brightened, when phones were still attached to walls — and when a skinned knee doubled as a badge of honor.
Childhood, he told a recent Senate Education Committee gathering, is quite different today.
'We have changed childhood to one that is programmed and supervised,' said Fillmore, R-South Jordan.
In efforts to keep kids safe, he added, grown-ups are 'robbing children' of opportunities to learn resilience, perseverance, self-confidence and other real-world skills.
So as a formal call to, in his words, 'make childhood great again', Fillmore is sponsoring a legislative resolution encouraging 'practices that promote child independence'.
The lawmaker hopes the resolution encourages parents, schools and local governments to 'find ways to have children get out and explore and play on a more independent basis, rather than having them constantly supervised by adults.'
Provisions highlighted in the resolution, which hold no statutory weight, include:
The importance of free play and child independence.
Supporting children engaging in independent activities.
Encouraging the Utah State Board of Education to incorporate childhood independence throughout the core standards for the state's public schools.
Urging local governments and school districts to enact practices that encourage children to build independence.
The resolution also claims that 'constant supervision thwarts a child's ability to develop important qualities such as resourcefulness, self-awareness and perseverance.'
Independent play, it adds, reduces anxiety and depression — even while allowing children to take risks, build grit and determination, and to interact with others while solving challenges without unnecessary adult intervention.
'Children,' noted the resolution, 'deserve time and space to explore, play and wander.'
Fillmore encouraged schools to utilize Let Grow — a national program/movement dedicated to promoting childhood independence.
'(Let Grow) provides free resources to schools to give them ideas about what they can do in recess time or at PE — and what kind of homework assignments they can give that build childhood independence,' he said.
Fillmore's resolution enjoyed unanimous support from the Senate Education Committee, passing it on for reading on the Senate floor.
'Our teachers are exhausted, our parents are exhausted. We are all chasing our tails, and I think this is exactly what we need,' said Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights.
During public comment, Tanner Hunter said he works as a social worker at a Utah elementary school. 'I'm speaking in favor of this resolution. Working with kids every day. I see what they're going through and the things that they are struggling with.
'So being able to find ways to get them out, and getting them out to play … will be important for these students.'
Parent Melanie Mortensen remembers being a little girl and 'exploring the foothills of my hometown and riding my bike for miles and miles and being gone all day.'
Her children did not enjoy the same opportunities 'due to changing society issues and conditions.'
Mortensen said she 'loves the idea' of giving unsupervised playtime back to kids — but also 'letting them try hard things and build that resiliency.'
Leah Hansen of Saratoga Springs also spoke in favor of Fillmore's child independence resolution. 'As a child, I learned a lot by playing, and I think this is one way that we can help our education improve.'
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