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I think I agree with the idea Sunstein presents that part of the charm of newspapers is the chance articles you can come across; it is a good way to come across interesting random factoids. I also see his point about how like and like breeds extremity. That said, I feel like playing Devil’s Advocate: I have trouble staying on top of, or even vaguely in touch with, the news; the nice thing about tailored news reports is that I will actually stay on top of them. Further, depending on how you tailor your news, it might come out like a Google search, where the results relate to whatever you are looking, but still have enough variance to be interesting and cover a number of fields.

I'm a little astonished as I recall my childhood.I had a schedule perfectly "crammed with activites that are productive, educational and fun". I practiced piano an hour a day since kindergarden, but my major memory of that time is still running and swinging in the twilight. I guess that's because I went to a great kindergarden: the hardest math we ever did was copy-writing numbers. My weekend schedule was filled with piano, drawing, ballet, calligraphy classes, but I never felt tired and I still got time to fly kites, climb mountains or just lay on the grass. The reason why I could do so many things at the same time as a kid is that, fortunately, I was curious about almost everything in the world so I enjoyed all the classes. They were not tiring burdens but just another form of play, an opportunity to do something interesting. So as long as a child is not forced to learn something he hates, "productive education" and play are not contradictory.

In the article, Henig mentions some concerns about children's lack of playing nowadays. We have to admit that many many kids are indeed indulging in phones or video games. However, the desire to play and curiosity for serendipity are in our blood. Even if today's technologies take away most of our lives, we still keep a small corner of place in heart for fun, for enjoyment, and for play. I remember one of the top students in my high school studies so hard every day, even between classes or in the lunch break. But she liked comics books so much that she always saved a little time for her comics every day. She sometimes went to the cosmics costume parties now and then. This counts as a type of "modern" play. We all have our own ways of playing. Some people like to share it. Some just want to keep it to themselves. Although the processes may be different with each other, the feeling of excitement and relaxation is mutual. As long as we reach the ultimate goal , why worry about it so much?

An interesting example of my point would be my uncle, who loves travelling and appreciating the nature. He used to be a vice president in a world-leading enterprises in China. He had this whole promising future ahead of him, but he chose to resign from his position and started his trips around China. I knew play and curiosity were always parts of him that couldn't be erased, not even by reputation or wealth. I admire his courage and determination to really achieve a dream, a dream that we all have but rarely try to reach it.

I didn't find Henig's article to be overly revolutionary in terms of how I personally view the act of play, but it definitely diverted my attention to something which, upon some thought, is more disturbing than all the frightening and awful things we realise that kids do and say to each other when they play. Bullying, name-calling, fighting, lying... it is certainly really terrifying to see that children have it in them to truly be so mean...

And yet, there is not the same let-down, horror, or shock when adults behave in the same, or worse, manner. What brought this to my attention was the ease and calmness with which the lab tests and brain surgeries and experiments on rats were described. I took a moment to step back and look at the situation.

Adults collecting and breeding rodents. Controlling the environment in which they are raised. Slicing open their brains, poking around inside their little craniums – and why? Because “science demands that if there are important long-term benefits to play, they must be demonstrated.”

“That is why studies of play-deprived rats are so fascinating.”

Both the Sunstein and Henig articles posed different but important problems that have arisen in the society we live in today. Sunstein resonated with me in the idea that people are being catered to too much, and the idea of curiosity is losing its impact as we as humans are being fed so much information all of the time, and it is hard to sort out what we really want to spend our time on, rather than having a newspaper to look at and sort through to find those special events or activites that peak our interests. 

The Henig article brought me back to the kind of discussions I was having in High School, I was in a really special place where all of the teachers and students alike recognized that all of the standardized tests and requirements were kind of ridiculous, and I feel that they dont allow students to be creative, because they are always looking to do well on the next assignment. This is almost the same with play and how it was explained as a place where children do not have as great of an opportuity to be whimsical, and they are more forced to learn music or a language by their parents and society, rather than having the opportunity to discover something that they truely enjoy.

Over the summer, I worked at a summer camp in Point Reyes National Seashore, a few hours North of San Francisco. It was my second year working at this camp, although I’d been a camper for around six or seven years. Point Reyes Summer Camp is a nature science camp, so the campers do a lot of learning about local plants, wildlife, and natural processes. We often integrate this learning into games and activities, and the kids (aged 9-12) seem to really retain the information they learn in that way. 

When I was younger, my favorite part of the day would either be recess and for a short time period, naps also became the vital part of my day. Soon, they took that away from me and all I could look forward to was recess. All my friends and I would stare at the clock and watch the minute hand slowly move as 12 would strike. We'd feel like animals trapped in a small cage and once the bell rang, we escaped and gazelled out of enclosed space. We were free and the sweat dripping down our backs made no change on the bright smiles on our faces. Most of my favortite memories from childhood are from recess; it taught me quite a few things that a room with four walls could never. Recess is a vital part of growing up and if we take that away from children and bombard them with more work and trap them in four walls all day, then they'll miss out on essential experiences. 

I wasn't really struck by the Sunstein article, though I agree with the general sentiment that the serendipity of newspapers is a good thing. I don't go out of my way to find news, so I like the variety that a newspaper provides.

The Henig article got me really excited in the bringing when he talked about dogs bowing to show they are just play fighting, because my dog does that all the time. The bit of cute nostalgia naturally put me on the side of playing is good for growth. Then later on the article got me thinking that when animals are playing together they testing each other, seeing how much they can trust each other. But then, at the end of the article, Henig mentions how play is play-acting the roles that children see around them and therefore teaches them life skills like deception and harassment. So when he puts the quote by Smith saying “play’s ultimate purpose can be found in paradoxes” that made me feel of play as bad and good. Good because it may build trust and relationship but bad because it also reflects the negative side of relationship as in deception and harassment.

When Hendig started talking about A.D.H.D. I really like the theoretical definition of A.D.H.D. as “overactivity of play urges in the nervous system.” I have a friend who is an art professor, and he uses medication to focus during the school year but goes off it during the summer in order to generate ideas for his art. That definition fits because I think of creativity as a very playful thing.

Reading Sunstein's article reminded me of how I discovered what would eventually become a huge part of my life. People who know me know that Lifehouse has been my favorite band for a solid six years, but they don't know that I discovered this band totally by accident.  My dad subscribed to a radio station and would receive monthly CDs with wide ranges of music.  He normally requested not to have them sent, but this particular month he forgot and we received it. My sister and I were bored several months later and figured we might as well listen to it. We weren't really into it until "Whatever it Takes" came on and we both loved it.  We immediately searched for other songs by Lifehouse and eventually found a small community of fans who were accepting of everyone and genuinely some of the nicest people I've ever met.  Had I not stumbled across Lifehouse completely by accident I would never have met some of the people I think of as my closest friends or become as close as I am with my sister.