September 28, 2015 - 15:00
Play is not always fun. It can sometimes be harmful, in that it incites unhealthy competitiveness and conflicts with discipline at times.
Yuri's post on her experience with play is a perfect example of how it can be harmful when play leads to competition. While some competition can be good for motivation, it can also be unhealthy for the confidence of young children when they are constantly being beaten by older, better and bigger kids. Because play is so often uncontrolled, it can be dangerous in that the right balance between risk and comfort might not be found. The risk of losing is too high for some kids who do not fit in with the status quo, and there isn't enough protection from all this negative feedback. This may hinder a child's emotional development, as they may not be able to see themselves as fully competent, judging from the way things go on the playground.
On the same note, because of how free play can be, it butts heads with discipline. While it is great that children can be let free and allowed to do whatever they want without any restrictions, the right balance has to be found between freedom and discipline. They have to learn that they can't always do what they enjoy or do whatever they want, and that in fact sometimes it helps to make compromises in order to be productive. From my experience, because my mom took away from my playtime during the summer and forced me to learn languages during the summer (which I didn't view as play at the time), I had to learn to discipline myself to concentrate. Now, I look back and see that that foregone playtime was better used elsewhere, as it taught me valuable study skills and fostered a whole different kind of play.