The book selection for this month's Big Read is To Kill a Mockingbird. The children, Scout, Jem and Dill lived outdoors creating their own entertainment. Part I takes me back to my own childhood summers spent out of doors from sunrise to sunset. We played house, ballgames in the cul-de-sac, follow the leader on bikes, hide and seek, and jump rope. We walked to the community swimming pool and when the temperatures soared, we ventured to the basement to read, listen to records, practice our instruments and one of my favorites play "Miss America". Each household had a method to beckon the broods to the dinner table. My dad whistled and he expected immediate response--SPRINT!

A heading in a January 2009 article in Scientific American states:  “Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed.” Children’s free-play time has dropped by a quarter between 1981 and 1997." What about the drop in that last twelve years with the boom in electronic entertainment and structured after school hours filled with sports and lessons of all sorts reducing time for imaginative play?

Furthermore, current study data suggests that a lack of unstructured play can prevent children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults. "Free play", scientists think, is critical for becoming socially adept, coping with stress, and building problem solving skills. Psychiatric interviews with convicted murderers reveal that they lacked play in childhood. Are we producing a generation of anxious, unhappy and socially maladjusted adults due to play deprivation? The creative aspect of free play with no clear goal is key because it challenges the developing brain more than play with predetermined rules. One study suggests that free play promotes neural development in “higher” brain areas involved in emotional reactions. Even play fighting improves problem solving. Play actually appears to make kids smarter and help with language development.

Topeka in 2009 is not Maycomb in the1930’s. The world has changed in so many ways that present unprecedented parental challenges. The first step to overcoming the obstacles is an awareness of the importance of simple free play. How can individuals, neighborhoods and communities enable childhood play?  How can we prevent the death of a “Mockingbird”?