Debates Over Decline
From the eighteenth century it has been argued that the culture of singing games is dying out. There is evidence that street games in many European and North American regions are disappearing as children play less in 'unsafe' traffic-filled roads, and simple games compete with the rise of television, video games and other pastimes; however, detailed observations indicate that they still thrive in the playground. There is evidence that age range has narrowed, with adolescents almost totally abandoning them and the 'guardianship' of games being left to those ages six to ten years old. Recently Iona Opie has noted that singing games in Britain have become virtually the preserve of girls.
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