While it is known that play is an integral part of childhood, research is now finding out that it has an incredible amount of benefits, and not only for children. Adults need to start integrating play into their lives to reap these benefits.
Social interaction is a key benefit in play by requiring groups of people to collaborate, negotiate, follow rules, and experience winning and losing.(1) It helps you connect better with others by allowing you to let your guard down, not be so serious,(3) and helping to maintain a social well-being, which many studies suggest is key for living longer.(1)
Engaging in play shapes the cerebral cortex, where cognitive process takes place, which enhances creativity and aids people in solving complex issues.(5) Even corporations are starting to recognize the benefits as Google encouraged their employes to loosen up, have fun, and play in order to promote progress and innovation.(3)
Stress relief is a great byproduct of play in allowing people to release aggressions in a socially acceptable manner(2). By providing a healthy distraction from work and other personal issues(3) play takes you out of time and helps you focus on the present.(4)
Play has been found to have a protective effect against depression(1) which could be a helpful addition in a country where 16.2 million people have at least one major depressive episode a year(6). Improving depression may also have an impact on memory since they are located in the same part of the brain, and depression can often be mistaken for memory loss states Fortunata Battaglia, a neurologist and associate professor at Seton Hall's School of Health and Medical Science.(1)
Play should start to be considered an integral part of our lifestyle in order to not only living longer, but for quality of that life. There are many ways to bring play back into our lives, games, physical activity, and just goofing around with children, pets, and other adults will benefit all. After all, play often brings laughter, and if nothing else, laughter is the best medicine.
1 https://stayingsharp.aarp.org/art/relax/15/playtime-adults.html
2 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-tian-dayton/when-adults-play_b_666145.html
3 https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/02/health/why-adults-should-play-too/index.html
4 https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336360521/play-doesnt-end-with-childhood-why-adults-need-recess-too
5 http://www.nifplay.org/opportunities/
6 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml
Hey Lynn,
ReplyDeleteLove this post, great work! Your passion truly comes through in all of your posts. You have so many great pieces to this article and I agree with all of them. I try to incorporate play as much as I can, whether it be Softball, dart leagues, corn hole, etc. It is very similar to my thesis of getting out and supporting our local communities. You also have some great sources and clearly understand your subject matter, awesome work!
Hi Lynn, this was a great piece and I think Wikipedia could benefit from the addition of this topic. To take things further, it would benefit the article to add some headings. For example, the first portion could be called "Research", the second might be "Benefits."
ReplyDeleteOther than the formatting tip, the closing paragraph edges into subjective, because it includes the word "should." Perhaps a re-write would title this section as "Incorporating Play" and provide the second sentence in list form. I would also suggest rewording the last sentence to indicate factual evidence that laughter is medicinal :) Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good assignment.
“While it is known…” is not the best way to start it. That’s a phrase clearly written to avoid citing a source. Who said what is known and known by whom? You are writing this post and making this statement, so make it, and don’t throw the burden on a mysterious “those who know.”
“Adults need to start integrating play into their lives…” is much better. If you look at the “Adults” section of the standing “Play” article on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_(activity)#Adults - it says the same thing, but the section of the article is not as thorough as your assignment. You could update the Adults section and possibly link to an article of its own.
The wiki assignment is not supposed to contain original research of yours. You successfully found good sources to gather as collective, established knowledge.
You did a great job citing your article with external links at the end. You could also start linking items within the body of your article to other Wikipedia articles. Linking your article to the Wikipedia universe, both out to articles and in from other articles, helps you understand the many your ways your beat reaches into other fields. It helps readers find your ideas on Wikipedia too.
Your writing is still stronger in some places than in others and I think it would be a great exercise for you to try to update Wikipedia with your additional writing on Play and Adults.
The wiki and submission assignments are the two big final steps in the course, exploring established research and original research. Writing a Wikipedia article to standards demonstrates how difficult it is to gather and express basic knowledge. Before you submit your fresh ideas for professional publication, you should know how to write the facts well.
A wiki is similar to the devil’s advocate (and journalism) because it asks you to be wary of your own bias, and check your experience and beliefs against reality and science. It’s also logical in its organization and formatting, particularly around links and sources. Wikis teach you how to build a neutral argument.
If your own ideas about your beat sneak into your wiki, that’s a form of bias too. Your theses and arguments should come together in your final article assignment instead, where editors, peer groups, and the audience will scrutinize them.
Regardless of the quality of your final article and the relevance of where you submit, you will meet rejection. Even if you are right on target, an editor may pass on your work 50 or 60 times before publishing. It is just part of the process. Editors want to see your level of commitment. Do you have a blog? Are you published elsewhere? Are you persistent? Are you worth their time?
The article submission tests your level of commitment beyond the course. Will you stick with blogging or social media? Do you want to join the larger conversation? Getting published professionally is no small achievement, even in the Web era.