Brincadeiras ao ar livre: uma reflexão sociológica sobre a infância contemporânea

Abstract

The contemporary child lives his childhood predominantly in industrialized urban centers and spends most of his time cloistered in his home, surrounded by walls, gadgets, and toys. Many children do not have access to nature and play alone. These situations reduce the opportunity to fully experience childhood. It is important to analyze the complexity of contemporary childhood and seek solutions, because creative play can contribute to the integral development of the human being and allow expressive experiences of learning. The objective of this research was to describe the social profile of children between 8 and 10 years of age, during the occupation of their free time. For this, we use as methodology the research of mixed nature, that is, qualitative and quantitative. Twenty-six children, duly enrolled in a swimming school in the city of Curitiba/PR, participated. A questionnaire adapted with objective and discursive questions was used as an instrument for data collection. Data analysis was performed on two fronts, the quantitative part was done from tabulation by percentage frequency and converted into graphs; already the qualitative part was realized in the light of the theoretical reference. As a result, we find that the children participating have, on average, two hours of free time during the weekdays of a normal week. In relation to the places available for play, only 10.3% of the children play on the street. At the end of this research, we conclude that children have very few free time, this can be considered a reflection of the social transformations characteristic of our contemporary society. With regard to thepreference for jokes, there was a predilection for games of catch-and-run and conceal, since the games with technological devices were little mentioned. We noticed a low availability to play in the street, which can be explained by urban growth and increased violence. We recommend further studies on the subject of outdoor play.