14/11/2025
We are glad to share with the community our participation in recent scientific conferences, where we talked about children’s play and social support networks in Utila.
Team member Brooke has been studying these networks since 2024. Brooke, working with the team and the Utila community, has found that older boys tend to have more playmates, and more playmates that are not family members. Boys approaching their teens are often connected to a wider network of other boys they play with.
Girls do not show these changes, and older girls usually do not have more playmates than younger girls. Girls in their pre-teens and teenage girls may prefer fewer playmates, have less opportunity to play with the same amount of people, or don't think of their activities in their free time as “playing.” Children of all ages reported family members as important people that they support and who support them.
