I think the author’s points here are only their strongest when mentioning the lack of unstructured play and overall reduction in play time & leisure as a whole.

I think the author’s points here are only their strongest when mentioning the lack of unstructured play and overall reduction in play time & leisure as a whole. It’s weakest when it speaks about “risky” play, where the author seems to focus on the excitement & fear etc. that comes from physically risky play. I don’t think physical risk should be a requirement for a robustly healthy childhood play experience. From the article, bemoaning the lack of play in abandoned locations seems fairly absurd, though again some other points are well taken. I will note one interesting trend that may partially be a product of this desire &/or need for risky play, which is the recent popularity of much more elaborate & diverse videogames in the “sandbox survival crafting” genre. These for me actually do seem to evoke a similar feel to the childhood sense of exploration and creative play. I’m not necessarily proposing these as a solution to what we had decades ago but it may be that just as the “safety” movement didn’t happen overnight, perhaps cultural solutions to fill these same needs will take a bit more time as well.