Children will lack the work skills they need in the future because they are not spending enough time playing, a Lego executive has warned.

John Goodwin, head of Lego’s charitable arm the Lego Foundation, says less time in the classroom and more time playing is the solution.

The foundation has a 25 percent stake in the Danish toy maker, giving it a vested interest in encouraging play.

Goodwin recently attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, the annual gathering of top business and political leaders, in a bid to persuade them of the importance of play.

He took over running the foundation last year after a spell as Lego’s chief financial officer.

He hopes the Davos elite will put pressure on governments to make education more play-based.

If not, he believes companies will find it increasingly difficult to hire the type of staff they need. “Critical thinking and problem solving starts in early childhood development. It’s where the foundations are laid.”

Goodwin said technological advances, particularly the growth of the Internet, meant that knowledge itself had become obsolete.

Instead he said it was now more important to teach children how to learn, and work things out for themselves, with play being one way to achieve this goal.

Yet in a warning familiar to many parents, the Lego Foundation chief says the “increasingly overscheduled world” of children has resulted in less time for them to do so.

This could have “serious long term consequences” for companies, he said.

Goodwin is not the first to warn about the issue: Several studies have linked a drop in play with negative consequences.

Peter Gray, a U.S. psychologist and professor at Boston College, has argued that the fact children play less has led to an increase in childhood mental disorders including anxiety and depression, as well as a decline in empathy.

“In play, children themselves must decide what to do and how, and they must solve their own problems, and thereby develop competence and confidence,” he wrote.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【慈善的】císhàn de charitable pertaining to or concerned with charityy

【过时的】guòshí de obsolete no longer in use or no longer useful

乐高的一名高管日前警告说：“如果孩子没有充足的时间玩耍，他们将缺乏未来所需的工作技能。”

乐高旗下的慈善机构乐高基金会主席约翰•古德温说，应对方法是少在教室里上课，多花时间玩耍。

该基金会拥有丹麦乐高公司25%的股权，因此该基金会鼓励玩耍可以保证它的既得利益。

古德温不久前参加了达沃斯世界经济论坛，在这个商界和政界大佬云集的年度大会上，古德温试图说服他们相信玩耍的重要性。

在去年接手基金会之前，古德温曾做过乐高的财务总监。

他希望达沃斯论坛的精英们能向政府施加压力，让教育更多地以游戏为本。

如果不这么做，他相信未来各公司将发现越来越难招到他们需要的人才：“批判性思维和解决问题的能力的培养始于幼儿期。这是打基础的阶段。”

古德温说，技术的进步，尤其是网络的发展，意味着知识本身已经过时。

他说，现在更重要的是教孩子如何学习，如何自己解决问题，而玩耍则是达到这一目标的一个途径。

但是，古德温警告说，孩子们“排得越来越满的日程”让他们玩耍的时间变少了。这一警告也是许多家长所熟知的事实。

古德温说，这将给企业带来“严重的长远后果”。

古德温不是第一个就该问题提出警告的人，许多研究都曾指出玩耍时间减少引发的负面影响。

美国心理学家、波士顿学院教授皮特•格雷博士指出，孩子玩耍时间减少会导致儿童期精神障碍的情况增加，包括焦虑、抑郁和同理心减弱。

格雷最近写道：“在玩耍过程中，孩子们自己必须决定做什么、怎么做，他们必须解决自己的问题，从而让能力和自信心得到增强。”

(Chinadaily.com.cn)