THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF
PEACE THROUGH PLAY

The underlying ideas
PEACE THROUGH PLAY is based on the ideas developed by PLAY FOR LIFE over the thirteen years of its work. The basic idea is that play is essentially part of human activity, and that play and creativity both spring from the same root deep in human consciousness. And, as creation is associated with life and living it is also associated with peace. It may be helpful to appreciate the importance of this simple philosophy if it is seen in the context of today's culture of violence. The PEACE THROUGH PLAY web site focuses on peace and its belief that play and creativity play an essential role in children's spiritual, social and psychological development. It believes that a key for transforming the culture of violence into a culture of peace may be found in this idea

Play for Life (PFL) came into being in the early 1980s, when 'war toys' suddenly flooded the boys' toy market. This event heralded the beginning of what has since become one of the most serious threats to childhood, i.e. the systematic targeting and exploitation of children by the toys, consumer goods and entertainments markets, using killing and horror, as well as semi-pornography, as the main subject. This has played a major role in producing the 'culture of violence' that is now evident in society, and I believe is also a large part of the cause of today's youth crime. Although the wider implications could not be foreseen at that time, it was evident that offering boys explicit replicas of sophisticated modern weaponry was introducing and stimulating ideas of killing and cruelty in their minds, especially as it was accompanied by the 'girlie' characteristics of 'toys for girls'.

The issue of war toys soon became a contentious one amongst peace workers, parents and others concerned with children and peace. In 1982 this and related matters, such as the advertising and importing of these toys, came before the European Parliament which recognised the potential harm that such material posed to children. PFL sprang from the early beginnings of these concerns and from some personal participation in a campaign of lobbying members of the European Parliament which was undertaken , amongst others, by the Quaker Council for European Affairs, situated in Brussels.

Development of activities
Thus Play for Life was part of the peace movement during the cold war period. It became a national voluntary organisation with charitable status in the early 80s. However, the founder members of PFL soon decided not to campaign against war toys, but rather to concentrate on seeking positive methods of encouraging a love and respect of life in children, partly because this was personally and ideologically their own preferred approach, and partly because they considered that this was the most effective way to help children to grow up to be sociable and peace-loving. If they learnt to love and respect life, they would not want to destroy it, in contrast to the contempt for life on which war toys were based. The love of life would in the long run fortify them against violent behaviour and negative influences.

PFL's main function soon developed into an advisory one for parents, teachers and others involved with children's play, as well as various campaigning and minority groups. It became known for its 'Guide to Playthings for Life' in which toys, games and other play materials, which possessed properties that encouraged children's imagination, inborn skills and creativity, adventure, curiosity and joy of life were recommended. The criteria for choosing the playthings were based on PFL's philosophy and the professional experience of members of the selection panel, and from observation of children using the samples that were submitted by the toys and hobbies industry and producers of craft-made and traditional and culture-based toys. These guides were renewed and updated yearly and became very popular with parents and educationist and were respected by the toy industry and craft toy makers. The playthings selected were offered by mail order and at stalls at various events.

After some six years of publishing this guide, PFL decided to discontinue it, because they felt that play without toys was more enjoyable for children and more conducive to 'real play', i.e. positive activity, creativity, adventure and use of the imagination, and also because consumerism and the lavishing of bought toys on children had become excessive. They therefore marketed books on play and related subjects for parents instead.

The ideas developed by PFL were propagated through its quarterly magazine, talks, workshops and articles solicited by other magazines, and its annual Day of Workshops, held in London, and it was mentioned in a number of books published at the time. It received favourable coverage in the media and the press which invited members of the committee to interviews and consulted them over the phone when researching various related issues that came into the news. This included questions on violence in the media and videos and computer games, and PFL undertook some detailed studies on these questions.

International work.
Quite early in its existence PFL's ideas became known internationally, thanks to the fact that it was for many years listed in HOUSMANS PEACE DIARY (and WORLD PEACE DIRECTORY), published in London, which listed all the peace organisations world-wide. This led to enquiries from a large number of international organisation , as well as correspondence and visits; and sister groups being set up in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Further international contacts were made when members of PFL attended conferences on peace, play and related subjects abroad, and some lasting links were established. These included:

The World Peace Congress in Copenhagen in 1987, where contact was also made with the West Berlin mobile Peace Museum and collaboration over several years;

New York in 1988, PFL was invited by the American war toys campaign, to participate in a workshop; this was on the occasion of the United Nations Third Special Session on Disarmament;

Warsaw - 1998; invited PFL to be on the jury of a competition for toys designed to encourage peace; and spoke on Radio Warsaw;

1991 - Leningrad (now St. Petersburgh); invited by the organisation 'Games move to Peace' to judge in a competition for 'peace toys'; interviewed by Leningrad television;

1993 - Helsinki, Centenary of the International Peace Bureau, where PFL presented a paper.

1995 - London, meeting and seminar in London with Akira Maeda, professor of Developmental Psychology at the Oita University, Japan, when it was decided to consolidate the international work.

In November 1996 Stephen Rennie, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the Leeds Metropolitan University offered to host a PFL Web page, entitled PEACE THROUGH PLAY, and this soon went on line. In November 1997 Peace through Play decided to extend its scope and to create an independent site. This was achieved in collaboration with the Norwich Quaker Web site, hosted by Stuart Burbridge.

A further collaboration was arranged with Jerry Tyrrell, Director of the EMU School Project (Education for Mutual Understanding), University of Ulster, when he gave a one-day workshop about the project at the Norwich Quaker Meeting House. This event commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Quakers being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The changing scene.
When PFL decided to close its national organisation in 1996, the conditions for children had changed drastically from what they had been at its beginnings thirteen years earlier. The issues had become incomparably more complex, in fact the chief difficulties, now as then, lie in this very complexity. The commercial and social pressures on children have taken on almost unmanageable proportions. Added to this is the confusion which reins amongst many adults about the part that technology does or should play in children's daily lives, how much time they should spend on it, how much control parents should exercise, and the vexed questions surrounding the culture of violence that has developed, and its many causes.

Partly because electronic entertainment has taken on such a powerful role in children's and young people's lives, and partly because there is, in industrialised countries, an ever decreasing amount of space in which children are able to play freely and safely out of doors, or opportunity to enjoy the wild countryside, or lack of air that is not seriously polluted, or meagre funding for cities to provide sufficient facilities, the opportunities for children to do anything other than sit at home in front of the screen have become severely limited. Because there are no longer any national borders in regard to entertainment and consumer markets, the subject has become internationalised. Although the possibilities for national or local governments to exert any control over these powerful influences are limited, there are nevertheless definite steps that could and should be undertaken. This question will be examined and discussed on this Site at greater length.

As these questions cover so wide and complex an area of life, and are of such importance to the development of children today and the future of Society, it is vital that serious efforts are made in all the fields affected to find solutions. This Web therefore warmly invites participation by all concerned people, in all areas, to seek ways of transforming the culture of violence into a culture of peace.

Contributed by:
Elizabeth Stutz - email: estutz@globalnet.co.uk