THE LINK BETWEEN
PLAY AND PEACE
A search for the vital factor in the human personality which produces peace.
The thinking underlying this discussion is based on a combination of theory, observation, practice and experiment.
In young children at play there is at times discernible a quietude and calm as though they possessed a deep, private and distant existence, which is just beyond the observer's understanding. It emanates a sense of peace. A fragment of this property, which might be defined as childish innocence, stays alive in each individual into maturity, but may remain dormant. Wisdom, and the flashes of intuition and inspiration that occur from time to time throughout life, spring from this same quiet place. This quality in young children, ephemeral as it may appear, is a powerful force, and lies deeply embedded in the psyche. It is culture-based and linked with the world of myth, magic and the imagination. Play is its natural expression, and in playing the creative energies are released. These may take the form of singing, dancing, music making, painting, sculpting, building, working in wood or other materials, including water and wind; embroidery, roleplay, story telling, poetry, or in many other ways; some original and inventive, some picked up from others. Play and creating are often indistinguishable from each other.
This force is refreshed and renewed every time it is used. It gives self-confidence and a certain protection from negative influences. It has the properties of healing, revitalising, strengthening and calming. The products of our creation are an outward sign of our personality. By creating outwardly our personality is affected inwardly. This means that we are involved in creating the person we become. By using our creative potential, we are able continually to recreate ourselves. Creating is an important source of our inner peace. By creating we are able to contribute to the shared pool of peace that exists in the world.
It is therefore of crucial importance that each child has ample opportunities to play and to create throughout the years of development. While engaged in creative and cultural actvities, children are reinforcing and storing up emotional strength and an inner peace and laying sound foundation. They are strengthened, to some extent, against the adverse and negative subliminal messages contained in much of today's popular entertainment. Their vulnerability to the violent and crude images, which they see daily on the screen, will be diminished.
Older children, adolescents, people young and old, continue to have the propensity to create in varying degrees. As they grow from youth to maturity this propensity may get overlaid by other factors but it never disappears completely. Society as a whole would benefit immeasurably if there were a greater awareness of the need to nurture this gift.
Expressed in practical terms this means that the ambience and environment that children experience, as well as the amount and kind of space available to them and the things they have to explore and play with, will constitute the source and raw materials from which their creative life will spring and be nourished. They will therefore have a profound bearing on the way the child develops because these factors signal to the child what the world is like, what to expect and what is expected of them, and how other people behave. From them they will, in part, learn their moral code and ethical concepts and the standards on which their future behaviour, attitudes and decision will be based.
While many parents, paediatricians, educationists and others professionally concerned with children are in varying degrees aware of this, it is nevertheless for the most part ignored in modern industrialised society. There are not enough places where children can play and use their imagination freely and safely, where they are not hampered by adult preoccupations; where they can encounter natural creation, the habitats of plants and small creatures, the seasonal elements; earth, mud and water; where they can explore, experiment, be responsible for themselves and have adventures. Why this is the case will be discussed elsewhere, the reasons are, however, probably well known. What children are being given in their place, and how this affects society as a whole, are partly responsible for the culture of violence. A subject for future discussion will be to examine how modern electronic games and entertainment affect creativity and play.
What we are considering here is how to gain a better understanding of the positive forces that 1ead to peace and how to harness the wealth springing from creativity in the service of peace.
ILLUSTRATIONS
To illustrate some ways in which the fringes of peace can be reached in unpromising situations, there follow some real-life examples from widely differing sources. These may offer some insight into the functioning of how play and creativity can provide a way to discovering that inner core of innocence discussed above. The examples are taken from practical situations in an educational framework. The conclusions I draw from these diverse examples are based on working observations and a holistic approach to understanding them.
Example 1
Reported by Betty Warndorfer, a young teacher at that time.
December 1946 - April 1947, starting eight months after the end of World War Two.
Place: Offenbach near Frankfurt/Main, Germany. After their victory, the Allies, i.e. Britain, the United States, France and Russia, divided the defeated Germany into 'zones' for the purpose of military occupation and civilian administration.
"I was working as a 'UK civilian employee' for the US Army of Occupation Intelligence Division. In my spare time I initated an unofficial small-scale experiment, with the help a colleague. The purpose was to discover what children who had grown up in the Hitler Youth were like and whether they might be amenable to what was then called "re-education", a subject under discussion by the Allies. Permission from the commanding officer had to be obtained and premises found. We were given an unused school room and garden by the German Evangelical Church. A group of about 15 children, aged between eight and 12 was found to take part in a programme which we devised for them.
Duration - about three months. Then I was moved to another station and the expereiment was not continued.
Aim 1 - to learn about how these German children, brought up under Hitler, would respond to the opportunity for free play.
Background
The children had become accustomed to being given orders by their Nazi leaders; they appeared to be incapable of doing anything without being ordered what to do. My colleague and I wore US Army ( 'civilian' ) uniform; the children therefore saw us as part of the occupying power which had taken over most of the homes that had not been destroyed for use as living quarters for the civilian employees (including ourselves). We were to them part of the hated enemy, the conqueror, the unwelcome occupiers of their country, and the new 'authority figures'. Amongst the adult population there was a strong feeling of animosity, even hatred, on both sides. On the one hand we were aware that these children were living near starvation level while, on the other hand, atrocities committed by their people were at that time coming to light. A frought situation at the end of a bitter war. The previous 'authority figures' had been Nazi officials. Now they were the US Army. The children in Germany at that time saw US soldiers as the source for obtaining candies, chewing gum and cigarettes, for which they begged openly. Many of the US soldiers carried out black market operations with the German population. There was no basis for respect or friendliness on their part, but rather a mixture of suspicion, resentment, hate and contempt for any-one associated with US uniforms. How to relate to us must therefore have caused the children some problems.
Aim 2 - to get the children to relate to us as ordinary people and to play freely in a relaxed way.
Aim 3 - to observe whether there would be any change in their behaviour or attitude.
Method: At the beginning there were no materials; however, some paper and pencils for the children to draw on were obtained after a while. We encouraged them to draw and taught them some group games. We gave no orders, but initiated play activities by showing them how the various games worked and by informal conversation and tried to create an easy and relaxed atmosphere.
We decided not to give the children any chewing gum, candies or cigarettes so as to avoid their attending the sessions for what they could get. They nevertheless came again and brought friends and the numbers grew. They appeared not to expect presents from us. It was not long before they were chatting to us freely and taking hold of our hands as we walked home after the sessions together, until they disappeared into their ruined homes, many of which looked like piles of rubble.
Observations:
As the children's ability to play increased and they became more relaxed, they lost their fear and a sense of trust developed. There was not sufficient time for their drawing to become free and uninhibited.
Conclusions:
The positive effects can be ascribed to the children's discovery of their innate enjoyment of play and that this was not only acceptable to us, the new authority figures, but actually encouraged by us. With the sense of freedom which they gained through playing, together with the newly found ability to relate well to us strangers, a new confidence developed within themselves. This in turn gave them an enhanced sense of identity. A process of re-creation was taking place."
Example 2
Place: a remand home for boys, London.
Time: in the early 1950s.
Duration: one week
I was doing a short period of supply teaching at a remand home for boys in London in which I was the first woman to be taken on. All doors and cupboards had to be locked, including the lavatories. There were bars on the windows. I was advised to look at some of the inmates' records so as to be aware of the kind of offences my pupils had committed. Most of them were robbery with violence or assaults on their mothers.
On my first day I left the craft cupboard unlocked during the lunch break, and on returning before the afternoon session the dozen craft knives, that I had previously counted, were not there, although the classroom door had been locked. The Principal undertook a search and found the knives partly hidden on the person of the boys and partly around the classroom. The culprit was discovered and removed from my class.
In the afternoons I organised painting, drawing or crafts. It was noticeable that soon after the beginning of the session the boys were all totally absorbed in what they were doing. A remarkable sense of calm and peace descended, as if they disappeared into a private world inside themselves; very quiet, but when they spoke they did so with a hushed, almost awed, voice and showed consideration and courtesy to each other and myself. I never had to correct or reprimand them. Every now and again a member of staff would look in to see whether I needed help in keeping order and looked surprised at the calm and quiet in the room.
Observation:
it was evident to me how each boy, soon after he started his work and became absorbed in it, seemed to connect with something within himself which brought him inner contentment. Each one appeared to have become a complete entity, and to have discovered something new.
Conclusions:
The sense of calm was brought about by their discovery that they were able to be creative and, with this, the joy that comes with creating; quite the opposite of their more accustomed frame of mind.
Examples 3 & 4
Place: an independent school for girls aged 5-16 in London.
Time: mid 5Os
Duration: five years.
I taught art and crafts throughout the school . A girl aged 14 was disruptive in class, did not work, was obstinate and unpleasant in her manner. There was a difficulty at her home in that it appeared that the father had an affair and the girl was devoted to her sick mother. When the mother died her behaviour difficulties in all her classes became acute. She became
depressed and attempted to hide her sorrow in unruly behaviour. At that time I sometimes played classical music records during the art classes. She had always enjoyed painting, but now she flatly refused to touch her work, and annoyed people around her. When I played the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah in her class she suddenly started painting rapidly and with intense concentration. When I went round the class and approached her she quickly painted black all over the picture, hoping that I could not see what she had painted. I did in fact just see that she had painted a mother and child scene. From this moment she became quite calm and quiet. Then she started a craze for crocheting a blanket for a charity and spent all her free time furiously working at this. When she had finished this enormous blanket she changed to being a particularly helpful, pleasant and amenable person.
Example 4
At the same school a lively, intellIgent girl aged 13, from a wealthy home, had a phase of attracting attention to herself by noisy behaviour and rudeness, and she did not work. Before Christmas, as decoration for the hall, we made a frieze, each girl doing a section which fitted into a theme. This girl painted a night sky with stars. I chose her to explain the theme of the frieze to the school at assembly, and from this it transpired that she saw some deep significance in her night sky which she gazed into for long periods. Soon after this event I took her class to the Planetarium where she gazed intently up at the stars in the universe; she again seemed moved by it. Following this, she undertook a private study project into the subject of astronomy and her behaviour problems disappeared. She became pleasant and her attitude to work generally changed.
Conclusions:
In both of these cases a particular painting, in which the girls had become engrossed, unlocked for them some deep-seated problem and gave them a passage out to another creative interest which provided their release and emotional healing. The healing came through an activating of their creativity which, in turn, engendered in them a process of re-creation of their self.
While at that school I developed a philosophy and method whereby the children's sense of identity and ability to relate to people and the world around them would be brought about through art, craft work and listening to music or poetry. This method was particularly effective in helping children over the transition from childhood, through puberty to adolescence.
I sought an interview with the then Director of Education of a difficult inner-city area and explained my method. I asked him to give me the most difficult class in his area, where I could apply my method and where I would have a completely free hand. He found a head teacher willing to take me on, accepting my conditions without reservation. The class I was given consisted of about fourteen pupils aged 12-14 years in a girls' secondary modern school in North London. They had learning difficulties and for the most part some behaviour problems.
This group of girls prided themselves in being unmanageable; most of them could not read, were poor in writing and other basic skills and unable to concentrate. They had low expectations of themselves and had defeated three teachers in two years.
A detailed account of the method used with this class will be given on request. It was essentially based on creativity.
That this approach proved to be what the group needed could be seen after only a few months, when their discipline problems had almost vanished; they enjoyed working, their concentration improved, they learned the basic skills, became polite, spoke clearly, were friendly and acquired self-discipline. On one occasion, when there was a staff shortage due to illness, the Head announced publicly afterwards that this was the only class which could be left without supervision. Their change in behaviour was also apparent outside the classroom.
The five examples given here were all in an educational setting, as it is easier to observe and report changes in such situations than in free unstructured conditions. In each case a complete change from a bad situation to one that contained an element of peace was brought about through creativity. This illustrates how the principle functioned and is likely to have left a positive mark on the children concerned.
The effects of play and creativity are more pronounced when individuals play and create freely, outside of a formal setting. The principle, however, is the same and re-creation takes place and a sense of peacefulness is achieved.
The need now is to find ways in which more opportunities can be created to introduce the peaceful element into the lives of children, young people and adults, and thereby to bring about the desired transformation, as well as in school settings and the classroom..
If some ideas on the principles suggested here were put into practice by each individual by taking up both a creative activity, (be it singing, painting, dancing, acting, etc.), as well as a play activity or games, and adopted creative practices in their home and work place, the effects would be cumulative and dramatic. This would lead further to ensuring that opportunities for play and creative activities were introduced into schools, colleges, the workplace and every kind of institution for those whom the positive effects might otherwise not reach, particularly prisoners. Then the enjoyment of constructive activity would come to outweigh the desire for violent entertainment and violent solutions. The desired transformation would become a reality.
Contributed by Elizabeth Stutz,
June, 1998
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