Every child has the right
Dirt is good
It is only when you are free to get dirty that you truly experience life and grow. Not only parents but teachers also think that the word dirt is bad and attach the concept of child’s learning with only academics, although at a sub conscious level they do understand the importance of experiencing to a certain degree. Hence the children are discouraged from playing because of dirt. As a result, children are bereft of a key means to learning: experience.
Dirt is experience
Along with dirt being an obstacle towards play = experience = learning, what are the other reasons for kids not playing enough in today’s world?
Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors, watching television, playing video games and working the Internet. When children do go outside, it tends to be for scheduled events - soccer camp or a fishing derby - held under the watch of adults. In a typical week, 27% of kids ages 9 to 13 play organized baseball, but only 6% play on their own, a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
Why is Play important for a child’s development?Play enhances every aspect of children’s development and learning. It is children’s window to the world. Play is so important that its significance in children’s lives is recognized by the United Nations as a specific right in addition to, and distinct from, a child’s right to recreation and leisure. However, children’s opportunities for play and their access to play environments is changing. (Canadian Council on Learning).
What is ‘Every child has the right’?
Children get dirty by trying things for themselves and inevitably get dirty whilst doing so. Our natural instinct as parents is to protect our children, or to maybe even over protect them. There are many good reasons for this instinct such as fear, cultural norms, social pressures etc.
One good reason, though maybe at a different level of practicality, are our worries about our child getting dirty.
In 2005 & 2006 Surf launched Paint and Games Masti where children were invited to participate in various activities designed to communicate that “Dirt is Good”.
This year however, Surf has taken the concept of “Dirt Is good because Dirt = Play & Play Is Good” to a deeper level and addresses the issues surrounding children’s play: the idea of learning through play, the obstacles towards play, the impact of not enough play for our children.
As a socially responsible company and brand we believe that we can create a platform on which we can take this message forward to showcase how playing helps children mentally and physically.
