Cat's Play

By Jason Schouten  |  February 10th

During the Christmas Break, I had the opportunity to engage in two activities that I truly enjoy doing, but rarely have enough time to do: reading and watching Finnick, our family kitten.

Cats, especially kittens, are fascinating to watch. They explore and play and climb and basically are a total menace of curiosity and claws. In their adventures, they often turn curtains into climbing posts, chew on sandals, and bat their toys all across the floor. They race around charging up and down stairs, their curiosity constantly getting the best of them as they explore endlessly.

If you’ve seen it, you know.

All this destruction hones a cat’s agility, transforming it into a remarkably gifted hunter capable of capturing prey with ease in almost any scenario. Cats are natural-born killers and if you have ever witnessed one—as I have—hunt, capture, and dispatch a mouse, you know how formidable they are. In addition, if you have watched a cat both at play and on the hunt, you will quickly recognize the relationship between their play and their profession: the intentionality of a kitten’s development into cat-hood.

Now, I’m aware that we don’t want our children to hunt and eat mice. But we do want their childhoods and educations to help them become successful adults.

Unfortunately, substantial evidence suggests that we may be getting childhood all wrong—or at least undergoing a troubling shift from a healthy upbringing to one that fosters anxiety and depression at dangerous levels. Our excessive focus on safety, combined with an over-reliance on screens, is stifling children's growth and resilience, leaving them less equipped to navigate the challenges of life.

I live close to a park. It is a typical park with fairly common, safe playground equipment. My youngest daughter is a bit of a monkey and she absolutely loves to climb. Often, she can be found scaling the “wrong side” of the equipment. 99% of the time, she is the only kid playing on the wrong side.

While my daughter explores to her heart’s content, I like to sit in the shade with a good book, occasionally glancing up to make sure she’s doing well. Every so often, a concerned parent—assuming no responsible adult would allow a child to play so recklessly—steps in to tell her to climb down or stop what she’s doing. That’s when I intervene, letting them know she’s my daughter and that we’re “all good.” If I’m feeling particularly bold, I might even explain that risk is a crucial part of a child’s development. And, if I’m really in a mood, I’ll suggest they let their own kids join in. I’ve only done that once—with an especially pushy parent. They didn’t take me up on the offer.

In his book The Anxious Generation—which I highly recommend—Jonathan Haidt outlines the concerning process we have embarked on which is “rewiring childhood.” He argues that the combination of helicopter parenting and social media has significantly harmed the development, growth, and health of our children.

For parents and educators, Haidt presents valuable insights that should shape the way we raise our children, as well as influence how we design our schools. His ideas may be counter-cultural, but they are grounded in solid, scientific evidence and research. Moreover, they can reflect Christian virtues and guide best practices for raising Christian children in an increasingly unchristian world.

The concept that stood out most to me was antifragility. Antifragility was a concept I had never encountered before reading Haidt’s work. He references Nassim Taleb, “who coined the word ‘antifragile’ to describe things that actually need to get knocked over now and then in order to become strong”[i].  It turns out that children are antifragile—and so, I would argue, is the Christian life. In fact, I believe that antifragility is a defining characteristic of a Christ-follower. From the early church in Acts to the underground and rapidly growing church in China today, we see this pattern repeated: persecution and hardship do not weaken the church; they refine and embolden it. Being knocked down—the wind against our boughs—doesn’t break us; it strengthens our roots. A Christian understanding of antifragility, rooted in a deep trust in God, is not just beneficial but essential to a life of faith.

As leaders of Christian schools, we must ask ourselves: why does this matter? If the science demonstrates that kids need appropriate risk and benefit from bumps, bruises, and some conflict—and—at the same time, the counter-cultural Christian life calls for resilience, producing Christ-followers who can be “content in all circumstances,” shouldn’t this shape the way our schools disciple, challenge, and educate our students?

If I kept Finny from racing around the house and getting into trouble, he might be safer—but would he still be an effective mouser? It can be scary watching our kids take risks, but maybe that is what’s needed for them to be bold fishers of men.

Jason Schouten is the High School Cohort Leader for Edvance, and is Executive Director at St. Thomas Community Christian School.

[i] Pg 73, Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin Press, 2024.