Play and Stress Management Among Children at Heritage of Faith and Hope Children Rehabilitation Centre, Machakos: A Descriptive Study
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Date
2011-06
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School Human and Social Sciences, Daystar University
Abstract
Play is said to be work in a child’s world. Children work very hard during play and they work themselves out to make it interesting. The best part about children's play is that they learn a great deal and develop different skills while having fun, such as language, thinking, motor, creative, social and problem-solving skills. For a child to attain these skills, all barriers need to be removed to allow him to have play opportunities. Some of these barriers that children experience include tensed programs, heavy workload, societal demands and expectations which do not allow children to have time enjoy play. This study was carried to establish play and stress management among children at Heritage of Faith and Hope Children Rehabilitation Centre (HFHCRC). The problem was that children today are engaged in heavy schedules from morning till evening with minimal time for play. They are given daily assignments and the pressure to perform mounts every day. Moreover, there is high degree of aggressiveness, anxiety, fights and quarrels among children in the playgrounds and class too. The researcher presumed that it was due to stress; the excessive energy and inbuilt tensions that have resulted due to lack of play. The objectives of the study were to establish stressors among children, to establish the play environment, to identify types of play among children and to establish the role of play in managing stress among children in HFHCRC. A qualitative approach with a descriptive design was employed to this study. To collect the data, 89 questionnaires were administered to pupils, teachers, support staff and school director. The researcher also used semi-structured interviews on 27 pupils in nursery and pre-unit at HFHCRC, due to their level of education. The other instrument that was used was an observational guide. The response rate was 96.6%. The population sample was drawn from pupils from lower primary, their teachers, support staff and the school director. The study found out that the major type of play was brikicho (40%). The play environment was not very conducive, since the pupils were offered limited time and space to play, with very little support from the primary caregivers. The other finding is that most pupils were stressed by cognitive (with 40%, according to the teachers) and psychological issues (with 50% according to the support staff and the school director), which were managed mostly with social support; all support staff and the school director indicated they managed stress by offering social support while 50% of the teachers also indicated the same. The assumption of this study was that pupils at HFHCRC were stressed and needed to play and exercise to achieve overall well-being, productivity and be able to manage stress. During observation, the researcher found out that the day’s programme was indeed fully packed from morning till evening with several activities and limited time to play. However, with the introduction of play and stress management, there was an alteration of stress level from high to low (see Appendix C). The study has suggested play as a manageable technique that causes no financial constraint on the pupils or their primary caregivers. Some of the key recommendations were for the teachers, to take a deliberate action on intergrating learning with play as a way of relieving stress. The support staff are to be engaged in children’s play, since it is important to expose children to play every day. The school administration is to plan for a school playing ground, and the Ministry of Education to enforce policies that govern the establishment of schools, and ensure that each school has a playground before the certificate of commencement is issued. The researcher recommends that a further study be done in the same locality of Mlolongo Town, Mavoko Municipality, with respondents from the same level; lower primary; but from a different institution. This will help in generalizing the findings to all lower primary pupils in private institutions.
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Play and Stress Management, Heritage of Faith and Hope Children Rehabilitation Centre, Children
Citation
Muteti, Rachel Mbula.(2011).Play and Stress Management Among Children at Heritage of Faith and Hope Children Rehabilitation Centre, Machakos: A Descriptive Study. School Human and Social Sciences, Daystar University: Thesis