One-Third of Children Do Not Play Outside After School, Delaying Social-Emotional Development

A new study at the University of Exeter concluded that more than one-third of children in England do not play outside after school. Researchers note that outdoor play is important for exercise, but also for developing social and emotional skills. This study result comes during the same week that Michigan State released a study stating that leisurely screen time is beneficial for children, as it improves digital skills for students, particularly boys.

The HighWire has reported about problems associated with heavy social media usage, including depression, and the lawsuits that have been filed against social media platforms for the negative effect they have on children. The HighWire also reported about the harms of children interacting with predators on the gaming platform Roblox, in which the majority of users are minor children.

“Our finding that many children do not regularly engage in outdoor play is worrying because it is linked to various health issues, including obesity, anxiety, and depression,” said Dr. Mark Ferguson, lead researcher from the University of Exeter. “We need to take proactive steps to encourage outdoor activities and ensure children lead healthy and active lives.”

A 2018 survey of Americans commissioned by Kamik, a Canadian footwear company, found that 30% of children play outside every day, while 65% of their parents reported playing outside every day when they were children. 20% of children in that survey were reported as playing outside only one day per week or less.

The recently published Michigan State study concluded that boys benefit from casual, digital leisure time as they develop more skills that can improve academic achievement. The authors note, “Like unstructured time spent in-person with peers, time spent on social media has a small, negative, direct relationship to academic achievement. However, unlike time spent in-person, digital activities offset the small, negative relationship to achievement with a larger, positive, indirect relationship through digital skills.”

While this study indicates social media usage has a negative impact on academic achievement, the authors are not evaluating the bigger picture of the impact that social media has on development. The HighWire reported about a Miami-Dade Schools lawsuit against major social media platforms that cited studies showing increased likelihood of mental, emotional, developmental, and behavioral disorders.

Keith Hampton, one of the co-authors on the study, has a disclosure stating he has “served as an expert witness, consulting for a social media company on litigation related to adolescent well-being.”

The National Skills Coalition released a 2023 report that found that 92% of jobs require digital skills, but one-third of workers have very little or no digital skills. While digital skills are required for the vast majority of jobs, learning these skills takes time away from outdoor play for children, an important aspect of childhood development.

Researchers at the University of Exeter say physical activity, social connection, and the adventurous nature of outdoor play all play a positive role in the development of social-emotional skills. The authors suggest healthcare professionals should reinforce the importance of outdoor play for children.

The authors also provided other suggestions to make outdoor play more accessible for children. “Simple measures such as creating play-friendly residential areas and safer urban environments where families can relax, exercise, socialise, and play can make a big difference,” Dr. Ferguson said. “But it’s important to remember cultural differences and engage with communities to make these initiatives successful.”

A 2018 study published in Health Science Reports outlines several risk factors that delay the development of social-emotional skills for two-year-old children, including lack of play with other children and increased screen time exposure. Multiple reports and surveys have noted that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were harmful to children’s social skills, with 45% of parents in a Gallup poll saying the pandemic negatively impacted their children’s social skills and 42% saying it harmed their children’s mental health.

University of Sunshine Coast Associate Professor Michael Nagel is the co-author of a book titled “Becoming Autistic,” where he cites his own research and the research of others. Nagel refers to a non-clinical diagnosis called “virtual autism,” where children display social-emotional symptoms similar to children who have clinically-diagnosed autism. This includes difficulty maintaining eye contact, paying attention and regulating emotions.

“We’re seeing too many young people with no history or clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder looking like, acting like, and engaging in the world like people who actually do have autism,” Dr Nagel said. “This is not to say that it’s making people autistic, but it seems to create situations where that’s what it looks like.”

The HighWire reported last week about the increased interactions children are having with AI chatbots, including a Common Sense Media report that found one-third of teens claim to be friends or have relationships with AI chatbots. Some of these companies advertise their chatbots as a cure for loneliness. A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Psychology notes the strong relationship between loneliness and empathy. AI chatbots are trained to mimic empathy, but the algorithmic formula for a chatbot cannot experience emotion or draw from personal experience. Therefore, any empathy that is perceived from an AI chatbot is inherently mimicry.

Dr. Nagel said increased screen time is likely contributing to the decline of empathy, vehemence, and the ability to understand the perspectives of others. “We speculated if this was one of the reasons why we see such a polarisation of opinion in the current sociocultural context where it’s my way or the highway,” Dr. Nagel said. “If you’re a baby boomer or Gen Y, you grew up in a time when there weren’t screens, and now your brain is fully matured.”