Traditional outdoor games in decline

Traditional outdoor games in decline

ByTibebeselassie Tigabu

August 6, 2016

Decline in children’s outdoor play is being observed. Compared to the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s children now spend 50 percent less time in unstructured outdoor activities, according to various researches. At times it is even hard to find groups of children outdoors at all since electronic gadgets are replacing outdoor activities. And the down side is children will become weaker, less muscular and unable to do physical tasks that previous generations found simple, writes Tibebeselassie Tigabu.

Asking children the name of a board game, where one moves pebbles around so that you can collect more than your opponent, can be one social experiment to find out whether traditional games are lost, transformed or replaced by other games. How many children in urban spaces know an Ethiopian traditional game called gebet’a?

A second grader, Melekot, who resides in the neighborhood of Summit, always gets into trouble for going against his parents’ wishes of not playing outside. This young boy, like many of his peers, does not know what gebet’a is.

To the question, ‘Do you know gebet’a?’ he doubtfully replied by saying, “Is it a card game?” and when he understood that his answer was incorrect he shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I don’t know,” and continued dribbling his ball.

Teamir, a fourth grader, who resides in the same area, laughed so hard when she heard the game gebet’a. After laughing so hard she was curious to know what kind of game it was. She talked about games she knows such as Akukulu (hide and seek), Arenguade, and other singing games, which she sang for a while.

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In many parts of Ethiopia gebet’a is still played with small holes dug in the ground or carved out on a flat stone. Usually, there are larger holes on both ends of the board. These larger holes are known as stores and are used for holding the pebbles.

In various parts of the country many children play gebet’a using pieces such as seeds, beans, pebbles or cowry shells. These pieces are placed in the holes and then transferred from one hole to another during the course of the game. The aim is to collect more pebbles.

Gebet’a, which is known as Mancala in many African countries, is one of the widely played games across the continent. Gebet’a was once popular since it did not require sophisticated equipment. One can dig small holes in the ground easily and collect pebbles or seeds to play the game. Though it is very difficult to conclude by saying that many children do not know gebet’a, many say that traditional games are slowly fading out. In the past, many children were seen on the sidewalks and public spaces playing various outdoor games; however, that is now becoming a rarity. The only outdoor game that is connecting all children seems to be football. In many neighborhoods football is still visible though the way the ball is made has changed throughout the years. Ball making had its innovative course where children used torn or new socks or plastics bags. Though Melekot wants to play football, he is restricted and supervised by his parents when it comes to time and space. In addition to that, there is no one who is willing to play with him during the rainy season. He dribbles his ball and kicks it at a juniper tree so that it bounces back. Passionate about playing football, he goes against his parents’ orders and goes outside to play. He says there is no space in their small compound so he takes his ball outside. Both his parents spend their day at work and he says that it has benefited him. However, there is the maid who sometimes tells on him. He says that when his mother hears about him playing outside she says that she is not going to take him to Edna Mall. “The funny thing is; she does not know that I don’t care about Edna Mall,” Melekot says.

Though it is the rainy season, Melekot gets up early in the morning to play with his ball and is not scared of getting some dirt on his clothes and shoes.

During school hours, he plays games such as “I know the killer” where one kid enters in the middle of a circle and turns around in a circle and points at someone and the child who was pointed at will wink at someone. If he is seen while winking he will be out of the game; otherwise the game will continue. The other informative and entertaining game they play is bingo where they compete with each other on how to build words using A to Z and the Amharic alphabets Ha to Pe.  Usually, four players participate in the game and the judge calls out each alphabet and the competitors write their answers secretly. The winner will be the one who was able to call bingo first and who was able to come up with new words. The other game, which was popular in the past, was leba ena police (thief and police). The game, which has a plot, involves a thief, a judge, police and a plaintiff. Since there is no playground at their school, it is very difficult for him to run around. In fact, it is not only Melekot’s school that has the same problem. Debora Alemayehu, a sixth grader at Radical Academy, says that most of their games involve papers. Games such as truth or dare and shreds are popular in their school. Though there are children who bring their ropes to play with or kick football, she says that the ground is not suitable. Many of them – during recess or lunchtime – sing or dance. Though it is not allowed to bring their phones, some of them hide it in their backpacks and listen to music during lunchtime. She says that some of them compete in twerking. Home is a different story for Debora where she does not play with anyone. “I just watch TV or study,” she says.

When moving around CMC and Summit areas, one will notice that it is filled with silence. Not seeing children playing outside is becoming common in many areas of Addis and many comment that traditional outdoor games such as segno maksegno (hopscotch), biy (marbles), suzi (a game which is played using ropes) and other types of games are in decline. These days, for children, it is all about mobile games, online gaming, PlayStation and Xbox.

Most of the old outdoor games are free and require little or no equipment. These games are also played by both boys and girls and there are no limitations in the number of players. In addition, the rules could be customized as long as there is fairness and the players agree.

For Rabea Seid, 25, within a span of 15 years, the urban scene has changed. She grew up playing suzi and football. She also played Pepsi – a game which has two teams. One team chases the other team using a ball and the second team escapes and attempts to pile up corks. Some say this game was called Demo during the time of Emperor Haile-Selassie and during the early years of the Derg regime the name was changed to Pepsi since Demo was strongly associated with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party’s ideological publication Democracia. Generally speaking, many of the games involved using stones, clay, and getting dirty.

Rabea believes these games – apart from being a fun – helped her in building fundamental skills ranging from social interaction to physical agility.

She has a brother who is ten and is alien to the idea of these outdoor games. Likewise, Rabea is alien to his world. His world is digital and virtual while hers is outdoors and physical.

Strolling down memory lane, she says that these games were physically immersive and usually open-ended. It is not only Rabea; many adults remember their childhood “good old days” and the games they played with excitement.

Berhan Alemu, who grew up in the Saris area, says that he used to walk to the National Theatre area on a daily basis to look for small ceramic tiles to play t’et’er. According to Berhan, they moved in a group to explore different neighborhoods and collect the tiles. He does not understand why they walked so far looking for the ceramic tiles but then again laughs when he remembers those aimless roaming.

They are sneaky in picking their tiles and sometimes get into some sort of trouble. “If the guard is around we do not pick the tiles. We hang out around there and wait for him to go away,” Berhan says.

They also play football with balls made from old socks or plastic bags. Berhan, who is currently a father of one, says that he was a troublemaker who always messed up the drying laundry with his muddy ball. Whenever he goes to his old neighborhood, he notices the change. He says that many of the neighborhood children do not play biy or t’et’er. “These days, many of the kids are into mobile games,” he says.

Around Sidist Kilo area five little girls are standing beside a tent, which is erected for a funeral. One of them is carrying a leather bag and that bag seems precious enough where they take turns among each other to carry it. Forgetting the loss of an elder person in the neighborhood, their focus was on the bag.

Another girl was carrying a rope but they were not playing with it. For more than one hour they were whispering to each other continuing to carry the bag in turns.

The neighborhood is a pocket area, which at times is dilapidated and shanty. The closely built houses are very close to the street and day-to-day household chores are disrupted whenever tents are erected for weddings, funerals or other occasions. The same place is where children play their outdoor games. Just like Sidist Kilo, areas like Arat Kilo and Casanchis have completely shifted from the age-old interaction and lifestyle.

These unprecedented levels of social, economic and urban change led to the emergence of high-rise apartments (condominiums). This, however, did not consider the needs of a child. Many say that cobblestoned compounds are not conducive to children’s games. Though there is a common space in the condominium compounds, it could not transform itself into a suitable playground and, according to commentators, the infrastructure has prevented the kids from playing outdoor games and resort to mobile games and video games.

Mahlet Tessema, a mother of two, does not agree with the notion of over-exposing children to gadgets. She believes that children have the eagerness for experience and exploration and for the physical world around them.

Unfortunately, condominium houses and other apartments are designed without taking into account the need to have children’ playgrounds.

These games have been traditionally passed down from generation to generation by children themselves adding their own innovation and giving it a contemporary touch. Despite the lack of space, many children played these games in different periods. So the question is why these traditional games are fading out? According to Mahlet, one of the reasons is that parents are afraid for their children’s safety when they leave the house alone. Many children are no longer free to roam around their neighborhoods or even their own yards unless they are accompanied by adults.

She says that working families cannot supervise their children. So they force the children to stay indoors. According to her, children’s lives have become structured and scheduled by adults. Her observation is that many children focus on their studies and when they have free time it is often spent indoors in front of computers or the television – watching cartoons – or playing with toy guns, cars and dolls.

Mahlet’s ressidence lies on a 90sq.m. plot of land and the only play area for children is on the cobblestone out of her compound. Though there is a common shared space in their residential area, she is not comfortable when her seven-year-old son mixes with other children.

She says that she raises her child in a controlled environment and her biggest worry is that the parents of the other children might not share her values. She noticed how some children get on top of a car and throw stones randomly. “Most of these residential areas are filled with new people. So we don’t know each other. It makes me uncomfortable when my child is playing with people that I don’t know,” Mahlet says.

According to Mahlet, during the sunny season, their residential area is deserted and it is very rare to see children play. It is during the rainy season that most of the kids start to come out. “If I knew what kind of children they were during the year it would be ok if he plays with other children; otherwise, I cannot take the risk,” Mahlet says.

So her son, Beamlak, is restricted to only ride his bike in the house. When he gets tired of his bicycle he tries to go to the compound, which, according to Mahlet, usually does not end well. She says that his leg is covered with bruises.

Since he complains a lot, she sometimes goes outside to watch him when he plays; though she understands that adult supervision is not fun at all, especially for the kids.

According to Mahlet, her young boy does not understand the dangers associated with playing on cobblestones. He jumps, runs and tries to create his own game. However, the question is, do these games really matter or is it just a mere attempt of reviving the games?

Mahlet, who grew up in a big family playing every kind of games, feels her child is missing out in having the childhood she had. She says that he should learn to be self-reliant and independent. “Now I see how they developed too much dependency on us. Small things such as tying his shoelaces are becoming very difficult for him,” Mahlet says.

With the hike in school fees, food prices and other consumables, many parents are occupied with their daily life and forgot the importance of child play. If situations continue, she fears that outdoor playing might disappear. “It is important to revisit and incorporate them in our contemporary urban life,” she says.