A few years ago John Cloud of TIME Magazine wrote that the idea that kids are overscheduled and need to slow down is “a fine example of transference. Aren’t you really the one who wants to lose the BlackBerry and go fishing?” Looks like he was right. The Washington Post takes note of new research that indicates kids not only cope with a heavy schedule, but thrive with it. It’s the parents, however, who are stressed out. And, (as is often the case when members of professional classes feel burdened by a problem) it’s not that much of an issue to begin with.
Two studies based on data about how children spend their days show that only a minority are heavily scheduled and that organized activities are linked to positive outcomes in school, emotional development, family life and behavior. The children most at risk have no activities at all, the studies showed.
“I found the opposite of what I expected,” Sandra L. Hofferth, director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland at College Park, tells the Post. Hofferth “started out with a pretty solid belief that lots and lots of activities are bad for children.” But, says the paper, she found a higher level of activity was not linked to such stress symptoms as depression, anxiety, alienation and fearfulness.
The American Academy of Pediatrics warned in 2006 that a hurried lifestyle could create anxiety or contribute to depression for some children.
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When I was a kid, the busier I was, the happier I was - especially in high school. I was never happier than when I was running to crew in the morning, heading to the local college for my first math class (run by the same group of Jesuits who ran my high school, though in the early 1900s they moved them to separate locations), heading to high school for the rest of my classes, and then having lord knows what to do after school.
Now, as an adult with responsibilities to deal with, I would love to be able to have more down-time. There are all sorts of things I would like to do, but I now have to keep a house clean, make dinners, and take care of my daughter. If I tried to add anything else now I’d have a nervous breakdown.
Childhood is a time when kids get to do everything for themselves. They have a limited time to make the most of. In addition, they’re at the age at which everything is new and wondrous. They want to be doing things. Every kid needs some ‘me time.’ What they really need, however, is to do stuff they enjoy.