UNIT 3: ENTERTAINMENT
My name‿ is Grace. I grew up‿ in‿ a village│ where the adults generally had no notion‿ of‿ our whereabouts,│ and‿ I have come to believe that the unsupervised portion‿ of my childhood was more formative than‿ any organised‿ activity I have│ since paid for.
Everything was‿ improvisation. A ball game‿ agains(t) the school wall possessed rules that‿ altered daily,│ invented by whoever was losing,│ an(d) disputes were settled without‿ an‿ adult,│ which‿ is│ where self-regulation‿ an(d) coordination were genuinely acquired. Somebody was‿ injured‿ every week│ an(d) we managed‿ it‿ ourselves. When‿ it rained we played‿ a boar(d) game with my grandmother,│ who cheated for her‿ own‿ amusement‿ an(d) thereby taught me,│ without‿ intending to,│ that rules‿ are social‿ agreements rather than natural laws.
I am wary of nostalgia,│ since‿ every generation considers‿ its‿ own childhood superior‿ an(d) the evidence‿ offered‿ is‿ invariably sentimental. I should not have wantedwan-did my niece's screen time‿ at her‿ age,│ but she has‿ access to things‿ I could not have‿ imagined,│ an(d) free play has not disappeared so much‿ as changed‿ address. What concerns me is not the technology but the supervision. Children‿ are now conveyed between‿ activities that‿ are timed,│ organised‿ an(d) praised,│ and‿ a risk-averse childhood produces‿ a peer group that has never had tohadda negotiate‿ anything without‿ an‿ adul(t) present. Risk has been‿ eliminated,│ and‿ improvisation has gone with‿ it. The premise that supervision‿ an(d) safety are synonymous‿ is the one‿ I would mos(t) like to see examined.