Decline of free play as a form of educational poverty

The paper proposes a theoretical reflection on the link between the decline of free play among the children living in the modern societies and the educational poverty, that will be considered as a set of factors that prevent a person from learning and developing, completely, skills and talents, with negative impacts on the daily life. It is a polysemic term that indicates a link between material poverty, social exclusion, marginalization and lack of formal education, and, with a broader view, that encompasses different forms of social and cultural inequalities such school dropout, low level of quality of life, scarce opportunities to learn and play, absence of an adequate provision of cultural activities in the community, etc.The systematic observations on the habits of the children and the evidence that have been gathered provide a demonstration that the decline of the free play is negatively impacting the growth and the personal development of many children. We are witnessing today at the reduction of the time that children are allowed to play in a form that is independent, spontaneous and self-regulated.The lack of the fundamental steps that represent the basement for the correct personal growth is depriving them of those social skills that are crucial to assume a self-regulatory and independent attitude in their daily life. The negative effects of this phenomenon are impacting millions of children, preventing them to reach their full potential. Thus, there is an urgent need to stimulate a debate and develop the strategies that can mitigate the risks