HeadmasterWeekly Newsletter -Week 4

Growing up in downtown Montreal and Toronto in the 1960s and 70s (makes me feel so old!), my friends and I spent all our free time outside. Parent free, we rode bikes, climbed trees, played shinny hockey in winter and pick-up baseball and football in the summer. My friends and I knew where the raccoons lived, and which ponds had turtles or frogs or goldfish. We would play catch with the local police officer on foot patrol, and he knew all our names and where we lived. When I split my forehead on a teeter-totter, he was the one who looked after me. It was a different time, but I loved those days when you could simply go out and play, returning home once it became dark.

Life is different for children now. That freedom I enjoyed is long gone. Or is it? Being just outside of a small town, surrounded by farms and forest, and blessed with wonderful facilities, I see our students happily discovering the joys of “going outside to play”. I thought it was a lost art, but I see so much evidence of unstructured fun and the obvious conclusion is that unstructured play is natural and supervised structured play is not play at all. It is unnatural.

If you could see the fun created outside during break, or lunchtime, or that wonderful hour after supper and before prep, you would understand what I mean. Skateboards and bicycles come out, swing sets squeak their timeless tune, balls are kicked or thrown, children run and roll (it always amazes me how our younger students will lie down and roll around on the turf field!) and laugh and squeal. We provide frisbees and spike ball sets, soccer balls and footballs, etc, but we don’t structure the play, and we don’t force anyone to leave their room. We provide the time and space and equipment and simply ask that it be respected.

Although it is “indoors” the same could be said of the gym, or of Mr. Smith’s music room or our new recording studio, where many a free hour is also spent in creative musical play. (I believe that playing a musical instrument is very athletic and healthy – for all sorts of reasons, of course.)

It has been said that this young generation has been sheltered, forced to grow up too fast, and incapable of unstructured play. What I have marvelled at this week are the many positive and impressive signs of youthful wellness. I am seeing healthy play and healthy relationships. I am also seeing true empathy and respect towards others (something definitely missing from my childhood where every joke was at the expense of someone different from me and my friends).

In the photos below, I hope you can catch a glimpse of the joy of childhood I see every day.