Mel Schwartz wrote:

"I see our society inexorably moving in this
direction, and it screams to me in alarm that
we are heading into a very dysfunctional area.
When high levels of performance become the goal---
and simple playful pleasure is no longer desirable,
let alone permissible--- I fear that we are falling
into a pathological condition."

I agree with you 100% !! This is a serious problem.

"The current generation of children and adolescents
are deprived of play. Their experience of what should
be play becomes more work, as it is overorganized,
scheduled and ultimately graded for performance.
The absence of play in a child's life is somewhat
cruel. In fact, it may be unintentionally abusive.
To rob our children of being children, as we propel
them toward the cultural edict of excellence needs
some serious reconsideration. A recent article in
Scientific Mind suggests that the emotional and
psychological well being of a person might well
correlate with how much free play they had in their
childhood. If this is valid, we are in deep trouble."

This is were I disagree with you...

Sure *some* kids aren't playing because their
play is "overorganized, scheduled and ultimately
graded for performance". But most kids? No, most
kids are spending the bulk of their free time
watching TV, 8 - 14 year olds are spending *over*
4 hours per day (on average) watching TV/videos.

http://www.tvsmarter.com/documents/stats-kids.html

That means for every kids who watches *just* 1-2
hours per day, there is another kid who watches
5-6 hours per day.

There have been a number of articles lately
decrying the lack of play in children's lives.
More often than not, "over-scheduling" is blamed.
Could this be because "over-scheduling" is more
a problem of well-educated and upper-middle class
parents, and what is happening in invisible
poor/lower-middle-class families doesn't matter?

Or is it because blaming "over-scheduling" is kind
to the parents, the problem is that parents are just
trying too much, and would just relax a little,
everything would be just fine? Criticizing parents
for using huge amounts of TV as a babysitter seems
kind of mean, so no one wants to do it?

Or is it because blaming "over-scheduling" is kind
to society. It takes society off the hook, after all
if "over-scheduling" is the problem, then society
doesn't have to work to provide after-school programs
for those who can't afford them. Or to provide
parks and open space for kids to play in. Or to let
parents know that contrary to what the mass-media
is putting out, TV (especially in large amounts)
is Not good for kids.

"A recent article in Scientific Mind suggests
that the emotional and psychological well being
of a person might well correlate with how much
free play they had in their childhood. If this
is valid, we are in deep trouble."

A link please? or which issue is it in?
I would love to read this article!

Good topic! As a musician and (former) athlete, i think what motivated me was the fun factor. But it's kinda like the chicken and the egg conundrum, you only enjoy when you are winning, but to win you have to be good at the game, to be good you will have to work hard. What is it really then, work or play? I believe it ultimately boils down to one aspect: Passion. Just like an athlete, there are times when you will want to quit because you think you are not good enough but if you have passion, you won't be able to stop what you are doing. You will find yourself wanting to play again and again, the hunger for your chosen sport will be there and this will drive you to work.