Play-Dates and Play-Spaces

Play is, and always has been, central to childhood experience. Where children play and with whom they choose to play are key factors that shape how children come to learn about themselves and the world. Traditionally, children’s play activities have been watched over by those close to the children (e.g., family, teachers, or other children), relying on in-person supervision in the early years, with the gradual removal of this as children develop new skills and independence. The proliferation of surveillance technologies is changing the landscape of childhood play. Closed-circuit television cameras, webcams, and nanny cams are now present in many play-spaces. Global Positioning System tracking devices embedded in clothing and mobile phone applications allow children’s daily activities to be monitored. At the same time, the spaces of childhood play have expanded into the global reaches of a merging virtual/physical world. While this has opened new play opportunities, it has also widened the potential for surveillance through the digital capture of children’s gaming and social media data. The long-term impact of these changes remains unknown. What is clear is that children cannot be seen as isolated from or unaffected by the broader expansion of surveillance in society. This entry reviews the benefits children experience from play, the benefits and drawbacks of surveillance play-dates and play-spaces, and how recent technological advances have made surveillance of children’s play easier both in and out of the home. It also examines the children’s role in “playing” with the surveillance technology and how using social media to record children’s play-dates is cause for some debate.

The benefits of play in childhood are widely acknowledged as key to the development of a range of social, emotional, and physical skills, as well as providing important experimental and creative [Page 749]opportunities. Very little is required for children to play—a person or an object to play with and a space to play are often sufficient conditions. Spaces that allow some private and secret play have long been sought out by children to explore their creativity away from adult supervision.

One factor that can affect the free and often uninhibited nature of children’s play is intrusive and highly regulated oversight by adults. As technologies used for surveillance become more accessible and affordable, they are more readily available as a tool for use by individuals. Parents, families, and friends now have at their disposal the technological capacity to record, track, and monitor children’s activities. This gives children the perception of privacy that some of them desire while giving those surveilling a peace of mind. In the home, a video baby monitor can allow a young child to be watched from another room, and a webcam allows parents to remotely view their children via the Internet anytime from anywhere.

Out of the home, technologies such as Global Positioning System tracking devices can alert and show parents the exact movements of their child, including, for example, where they have stopped off to play on their way back home from school. Spy software, discretely installed on a child’s mobile phone or computer, has the capacity to record detailed data about online activity and communications. This capacity to watch and record, often from a distance, brings new forms of power and knowledge to the spaces of children’s play. It also raises new types of dilemmas. These are often framed as a conflict of the need to maintain the safety and security of children versus the tendency to overprotect children in ways that take away opportunities for free and independent play. Adults with responsibilities for children therefore face complex decisions in deciding if and when to use surveillance to monitor children and how much freedom to afford children in both physical and online play-spaces.

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