London - Overprotective parents who hover around their children as they play with their friends do not just risk getting in the way – their children could become more selfish as a result.
A leading psychologist has warned that the rise of play dates supervised by adults – and the decline of un-supervised play in local neighbourhoods – is creating a generation of children who have not learned how to empathise with others.
Dr Peter Gray explained: “Free play is how children practise taking charge of their own lives. When children are continuously managed by adults, they don’t develop an internal locus of control.” He added: “To play with other children you must please them as well. That means overcoming narcissistic tendencies.”
Dr Gray, a professor at Boston College in the US, blamed the decline of free play on pushy parents who think children gain more from doing what adults tell them to do than learning for themselves.
He said: “As a society we have lost touch with the meaning of childhood. We no longer think of it as a time of play, but increasingly think of it as a time of resume [CV] building.”
While he recognised that safety fears had led to an increase in supervised play dates, he advised adults to make themselves as scarce as possible, adding: “Children are far more able to take responsibility than most of us give them credit, but they need the freedom to practise or else it atrophies.” - Daily Mail