The art of playing: Comparing kids play in 1971 with today (40 years on)
Question 1: What kind of popular culture did you select for your study? Why do you think ethnography or observation is particularly suitable for studying this aspect of social life?
Although I don’t know if play as in children playing can be seen as popular culture, it is an important aspect of social life, as play is an essential part of learning to interact socially.
I would like to investigate the difference between children playing in the 1970s to children playing in the 2000s. My target group would be adults who were between 5 and 10 years of age in 1971 and children who are between 5 and 10 years old at the time of the research.
Question 2: What setting will allow you to research this topic (for eg, a pub, park, sports arena, restaurant, etc)? How does the setting 'frame' the cultural activity in question?
I would research the place where I grew up myself – a suburban locality: A street in the country town of Morwell, in the Gippsland district of Victoria. Playing in 1971 happened either on the street, in the neighbour’s backyards or in the cow paddock behind the backyard fences. The housing situation has hardly changed since then and I expect to find families in the area that were already local in 1971. This neighbourhood will have their own children and newly arrived people will have settled in as well. There will be children around at the age of 5 to 10 years, but will they experience play the way the kids did in 1971? What are the defining aspects that changed the way kids play?
Question 3: How long do you think you would have to spend in this setting to obtain the data you require?
It would take approximately six weeks from the beginning of the year (summer holidays) to the first two weeks into the new primary school term. School is a place where kids are outside the control of their parents. I would like to investigate if kids interact (play) differently at school.
Question 4: What do you think you can claim or not claim on the basis of the research time and effort you have proposed in Question 3?
I think I can claim that play has significantly changed over the last 40 years. While play in the 1970s was all about kids doing things together, I believe that today’s kids spend more time in isolation with technological devices. I further believe that parents prefer their children to stay at home as they are worried that something could happen as soon as they lose direct contact (see, hear, talk), giving away control to third parties.
In my view two factors have changed the way children play and are allowed to play: Technology and Media
Technology: Modern technology can help parents to keep total control of the kids. Modern communication devices like mobile phones and computers, providing modern communication devices.
There are two qualities of control:
• The active control taken by parents, I regard as a dominant control. This sort of control is aimed at the kids of anxious parents, who try to stay ahead of every move their kids make. Examples are that parents text message with friend’s parents when the kid is over there and make sure that at least one adult always has control over where the kid is. This severely reduces the opportunities for play and social experiences being made outside parental control.
• Then there is what I call the immobilizing control of modern technology. Computers, TV, game devices. Kids no longer have to leave the house to catch up with their friends. Artificial interaction is provided by computer games, mobile phone applications (apps) and in front of the TV.
• It would be interesting to further investigate at a later time in the future if these kids develop social deficits.
Media: As I already made clear, I believe that media is responsible for modern parents constantly panicking about the security of their kids. This makes it hard for them to leave their kids unobserved. I believe the reason for this irrational behavior is irrational news coverage as we know it and artificially produced fear and worry through so called reality soaps. The biggest questions constantly asked in the media are focused on fear: ‘Do we have to be scared?’ ‘Can this situation repeat itself in my family?’ Although times are safer than ever, parents are worried more than ever about everything including the safety of their kids.
I would like to proof that both technology and modern media have a severe impact on the way that kids are brought up. Children’s understanding of play has changed dramatically.
To prove my thesis I will design a questionnaire and…
…interview local members of the neighbourhood who were in the age group of 5 – 10 in 1971 upon their playing habits. Interview teachers and parents who brought up kids between the age of 5 – 10 in 1971 and ask them how kids behaved in their surroundings and what hey did during breaks at school. Ask parents which measures they took to keep control over their kids when they were playing.
…interview local kids from the neighbourhood who are 5 – 10 during observation time upon their playing habits. Interview teachers and parents who are bringing up kids between the age of 5 – 10 today and ask them how kids behave in their surroundings and what they do during breaks at school. Ask parents which measures they take to keep control over their kids when they are playing.
The results will then be analysed, allowing to confirm or to rebut my thesis.
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