{"id":35648,"date":"2024-02-08T15:38:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T23:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35648"},"modified":"2024-02-08T15:38:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T23:38:40","slug":"time-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/time-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cGone are the days when dumb, insensitive, or offensive teenage mishaps were forgotten or simply disappeared. Their extensive digital record makes Gen Z the most cancelable cohort, and that makes modern adolescence kind of nightmarish. The ever-present threat of being canceled harms friendships, undermines trust, and fosters paranoia. And it\u2019s certainly not helping the record number of young people experiencing anxiety, loneliness, and poor mental health. The result of cancel culture is a self-insulating generation.\u201d\u00a0 [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

Within this quote lies a deeply concerning outcome of cancel culture, a self-insulating generation that isolates themselves. According to Forbes contributor, <\/span>Kian Bakhtiari<\/span><\/a>, in an article written about the loneliness epidemic within Gen Z, young people aged 16 to 24 feel more lonely than any other age group, including people aged 65 and over. 73% of Gen-Z report feeling alone sometimes or always. Loneliness can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. And people who experience social isolation have a 32% higher risk of early death.\u201d [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

Gen-Z is super connected online but lacks real social connection. The internet, phones, and video games offer lots of new connections, but they don’t replace the need for emotional connections in the real world.\u00a0 However, in an article from Psychology Today, titled \u201c3 Things Making Gen Z the Loneliest Generation\u201d it is noted that reversing the loneliness trend in Gen Z requires addressing contributors such as the overstimulation that leaves less time to connect.[3]\u00a0 Likewise, this was noted in the book, <\/span>The Cancelling of the American Mind<\/span><\/i> by Free Speech Lawyer, Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott. In chapter 10:\u00a0 Raising Kids Who Are Not Cancelers, the authors present the question:\u00a0 How can parents keep their kids from getting canceled? How can we raise anti-cancelers? Up to this point in the book,\u00a0 Lukianoff and Schlott define cancel culture, how cancel culture works, and begin to dive into what to do about it in part three.\u00a0 After consulting some of the most respected voices on parenting their first admonition to parents is to keep their children off social media for as long as possible. [4].\u00a0 Postponing the use of social media for children is a difficult approach to take, especially when so many apps have a social media component, with features like push notifications, live chat, ability to stream media, customizable profile, and the ability to content share.\u00a0 The hot topics often requested by parents for Parent Labs in our church is social media and screen time.\u00a0 The Parent Labs offer parents a space shared with like-minded families for collaboration, while navigating the challenges of screen time usage and social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lukianoff and Schlott developed a five step plan to help parents raise anti-cancelers in, as they refer to it, \u201cthe age of Cancel Culture.\u201d\u00a0 The steps included:\u00a0 1)\u00a0 Revive the golden rule, 2)\u00a0 Encourage free, unstructured time, 3)\u00a0 Emphasize the importance of friendships, 4)\u00a0 Teach kids about differences,\u00a0 5)\u00a0 Practice what you preach. [5]\u00a0 While I felt like these steps are helpful and are a good starting point, there is so much more to unpack as we train kids to love God, and love all He has created. When reading the five steps something \u201cpinged\u201d within on the importance of play (for kids AND adults).<\/span><\/p>\n

As a former Kindergarten teacher and mom of three grown children, (and I can\u2019t forget to mention two grandchildren), I can’t emphasize enough the importance of free, unstructured play.\u00a0 Through play we tap into an aspect of our identity as image bearers, creating like our Creator and enjoying the created. Have you ever taken the time to observe a child engaged in the process of constructing or creating?\u00a0 Play is the language of children and somewhere in the journey of life many adults have lost the ability to play or rec-create.\u00a0 The venue of play offers adults and children the opportunity to practice the golden rule, enjoy unstructured, free time, develop friendships, and navigate differences.\u00a0 Perhaps the one I find most challenging is practicing what I preach. . . meaning setting aside the phone\/computer\/screen\/work to play. Clinical psychologist and chief of the Division of Psychology at Ellis Hospital, Dr. Rudy Nydegger, says there are two basic tenets of play. First, it is something that we do for recreation that is purely for enjoyment and\/or entertainment. It is something we do just for fun.\u00a0 Second, it is something that is intrinsically motivating. In other words, it is something that we want to do and is not something we need to be coerced or ‘bribed’ into doing. It is voluntary; we do it just because we want to. [6]\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I consider the record number of young people experiencing anxiety, loneliness, and poor mental health resulting in a self-insulating generation, how might we as leaders \u201cplay better\u201d as a means for \u201cdoing life better\u201d in our communities of faith?<\/span><\/p>\n

How have you incorporated play into your week?\u00a0 Let\u2019s share and inspire one another through a Mind Blast Protocol (in the REPLY section) of the ways in which you have incorporated play into your day or week.\u00a0 Ready, go. . .\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] <\/span>Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, <\/span>The Canceling of the American Mind, <\/span><\/i>(New York NY: Simon\u00a0<\/span>& Schuster, 2023), 214.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/span>https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kianbakhtiari\/2023\/07\/28\/gen-z-the-loneliness-epidemic-and-the-unifying-power-of-brands\/?sh=1c77b2186790<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/span>https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/the-case-connection\/202208\/3-things-making-gen-z-the-loneliest-generation<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] <\/span>Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, <\/span>The Canceling of the American Mind, <\/span><\/i>(New York NY: Simon\u00a0<\/span>& Schuster, 2023), 214.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Ibid, 219.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/span>https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/better\/health\/adults-need-recess-too-here-s-why-you-should-make-ncna887396<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cGone are the days when dumb, insensitive, or offensive teenage mishaps were forgotten or simply disappeared. Their extensive digital record makes Gen Z the most cancelable cohort, and that makes modern adolescence kind of nightmarish. The ever-present threat of being canceled harms friendships, undermines trust, and fosters paranoia. And it\u2019s certainly not helping the record […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,1535],"class_list":["post-35648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-lukianoff","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35650,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35648\/revisions\/35650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}