Peter Gray

And I think in a sense he's right, that if you take away play from people, they're going to be depressed.

But in addition to that, what research shows is that when children are playing and doing other things independently, they are acquiring the skills and the sense of agency, the sense of what psychologists call an internal locus of control.

that leads them to recognize that they can solve problems.

They can deal with the bumps in the road of life.

You're dealing with that when you're playing.

You know, somebody's bullying you a little bit and instead of a parent or an adult solving the problem, you figure out how to solve that problem.

Or you get hurt and you figure out what to do about it.

You get lost and you find your way home.

All of these are the kinds of experiences that children throughout history have always experienced.

And it's how they learn, I can deal with problems.

I don't have to be afraid of the world because I can solve these problems.

But if we're not allowing children to do that, they don't develop this internal sense of control.

That sets you up to be anxious.

And if it goes too far, it sets you up to be depressed, a sense of hopelessness about the world.

So those are the theoretical reasons.

The empirical reasons come from a whole range of other kinds of studies that show that those children who do have more opportunity for independent play are doing better psychologically than those who have less.

you could point to some positive changes.

There are fewer teenage traffic accidents because fewer teenagers are driving.

There's actually less sex among teenagers than in the past.

So historically, in many ways, we might regard it as a good thing.