By Fariha Hossan
There was a time when afternoons meant running straight to the playground. School bags were
tossed aside as children gathered with friends to play football, cricket, hide-and-seek, tag, and
other traditional games. Dusty feet, sunburned faces, the excitement of victory and defeat,
teamwork, and endless laughter defined childhood. Those moments created memories that lasted
a lifetime.

Today, that picture has changed dramatically. Many children now spend their afternoons indoors,
holding smartphones or staring at tablets and computer screens. Online games, social media, and
artificial intelligence-powered applications have become
their new playmates. The reason is simple: in many places,
the playgrounds where children once ran freely no longer
exist.

Play is far more than a source of entertainment. It is essential
for developing a child's personality, leadership, confidence,
creativity, empathy, and emotional resilience. Yet millions of
children are gradually being deprived of this fundamental
right.

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is often celebrated as a symbol of rapid development. High-
rise buildings, flyovers, metro rail, modern housing projects, and commercial complexes have
transformed the city. However, amid this impressive urban growth, open playgrounds are steadily
disappearing. Areas where children once played have been replaced by apartment buildings,
parking lots, and commercial establishments. While the city has expanded, the space available
for children to play has shrunk.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every person should have access to at least
nine square meters of open space for healthy living. The WHO also recommends that children
and adolescents engage in at least one hour of physical activity every day. Unfortunately, the
reality in Dhaka is very different. Urban planners point out that the city has far fewer
playgrounds than its population requires. Even many of the existing fields remain inaccessible
because they are controlled by educational institutions, clubs, or other organizations.
This is not only a problem in the capital. Across district towns and municipalities throughout
Bangladesh, rapid urbanization, unplanned housing development, land encroachment, and weak

urban planning have significantly reduced open recreational spaces. Many public and private
schools lack proper playgrounds, leaving children with few opportunities to play either at school
or in their neighborhoods.

The greatest price for this crisis is being paid by the younger generation. Playing outdoors
strengthens the body while teaching children invaluable life skills, including teamwork,
discipline, leadership, decision-making, resilience, and respect for others. On the playground,
children learn to accept both success and failure, overcome challenges, and understand their own
strengths and limitations. Books can provide knowledge, but playgrounds teach lessons about
life.

Every child carries the potential to become tomorrow's leader, scientist, teacher, physician, artist,
or athlete. If childhood becomes confined within concrete walls, society's future will also
become limited. When children lose the freedom to explore open spaces and experience nature,
their creativity and imagination inevitably suffer.

Technology has advanced rapidly in recent years. Artificial intelligence, smartphones, tablets,
and digital education have become integral parts of modern life. Technology itself is not the
problem; in many cases, it is an essential tool. The concern arises when technology replaces
playgrounds instead of complementing them. Without safe places to play, many children spend
nearly all of their leisure time on mobile games, video streaming platforms, social media, and
virtual environments. As a result, physical activity declines, obesity increases, sleep patterns are
disrupted, attention spans shorten, and social skills weaken.
Child psychologists have long warned that virtual experiences can never replace real-world
interaction. Outdoor play teaches cooperation, patience, self-control, emotional expression, and
quick decision-making in ways that no digital platform can replicate. Losing a playground
therefore means much more than losing an empty piece of land—it means depriving children of a
natural environment essential for healthy development.

Another consequence of disappearing playgrounds is increasing social isolation. In the past,
neighborhood fields brought together people of all ages. Children learned from older generations,
friendships flourished, and communities became stronger through daily interaction. Today, many
of these communal spaces have been replaced by apartment complexes where neighbors often
remain strangers. Even children living in the same building may barely know one another,
weakening the natural process of socialization.

The impact extends beyond childhood. Studies suggest that the lack of safe recreational spaces
and positive social environments contributes to loneliness, frustration, and risky behaviors
among adolescents. While the absence of playgrounds cannot solely be blamed for these
challenges, experts agree that access to sports and creative outdoor activities plays a vital role in
promoting healthy psychological development and encouraging positive social behavior.
A society that cannot preserve open spaces for its children is unlikely to create enough space for
its future. Development is meaningful only when it places people—especially children—at its

center. Building a prosperous nation requires more than producing technologically skilled
citizens. It requires raising healthy, confident, compassionate, and creative human beings.
The first classroom in shaping such citizens is neither a high-rise building nor a smart device. It
is a green playground where children can run, imagine, compete, cooperate, and grow.
Preserving these spaces is not merely an investment in recreation—it is an investment in the
future of our society.

The writer is a student of Biochemistry and Biotechnology at North South
University.