Play as self-protection
considerable part in the value attributed to
This story is from Hitoshi Shimamura, play-
stress (Greenberg 2004).
worker at the adventure playground in Kodomo Yume Park, Kawasaki, Japan (personal commu-
Under playful conditions of desirable, moderate
nication 2009).
and temporary stress created by ‘as if ’ frames and uncertainty, there may be a brief enhance-
“One time, a 12-year-old boy got a cut on
ment of immune systems and emotion-cogni-
his forehead when he was playing with
tive function (Flinn 2006). The experience of
a 5-inch nail (it is a really popular game
stress under playful conditions, with associated
here!). I gave him first aid and said, ‘We
temporary elevations of cortisol (an impor-
should phone your parents about the cut,
tant neurochemical involved in responding to
because it is on the forehead. Otherwise,
stress), leads to neural reorganisation. This ena-
your parents would be worried’. He, how-
bles new connections that will be able to cope
ever, rejected it. It is quite usual for children
with the demands of an unpredictable environ-
to refuse reporting to the parents, because
ment (Flinn 2006) and energise activity (Green-
they know the parents would not be happy
berg 2004). Pellis and Pellis’s (2006) research
about it.
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suggests that animal play-fighting fine-tunes the development of the stress response system
I explained that I would report to the par-
in ways that enhance an individual’s ability to
ents in a way that would not get him into
respond appropriately to novel challenges.
trouble, but his explanation was ‘I do not want a playworker in Yume Park getting into
Through playing, children appreciate that social
trouble with my parents’. I thought his reac-
interaction and engagement with each other
tion was so unusual. I wondered, however,
and the physical environment may involve some
whether he would have the same response if
pain and uncertainty, and so ‘dampen their
he had been injured doing what he did not
emotional weighting in order for that discom-
really feel like doing ... A child in a positive
fort to be regarded as “background noise”’
mind in daily life would not accuse others of
(Pellis and Pellis 2006: 265); if a child hurts
his/her own injuries.”
themselves or gets hurt by others in play, while the pain is ‘real’ it may matter less than in nonplay contexts as, after all, ‘we were just playing’.
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In basic terms, following an initial reaction to stress through the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, a stress response becomes activated via the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) system and the production of cortisol-based neurochemicals. Short bursts of cortisol into the system are beneficial in terms of generating an appropriate adaptive response to stress, but both under and over production of cortisol may be harmful through depressing neural activity and reducing the system’s potential to cope with adversity.
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