Kids today do not lead the kinds of lives that you and I did when we were young and there are certainly even more drastic differences between our children today and the childhood of our parents. Children carry their cell phones with them up and down the halls of their schools all the while text messaging their friends. There is greater accessibility to transportation and kids with working parents are often able to learn quite a bit about independence and finding activities to occupy their time.
The argument can easily be made that parents are to blame for our children’s tendencies to over-schedule their time, however at the same time children face their own pressure to be involved in many different activities themselves. Whether it is parental mistake or childhood competitiveness, you as the parent are responsible for the well-being of your children and are therefore given jurisdiction over preventing your child from becoming too busy.
You may wonder to yourself, “How am I to know if my child is too busy or just busy enough?” This is an excellent question. Take a moment to look at your child’s life on a daily basis. Do you think that your child’s schedule is over crowded? Have you asked your child if he or she thinks that their schedule has become too much. Sit down with your child to discuss making a change. Decide on activities that your child feels like he can do without (of course, encourage continual participation in school and learning activities such as tutoring). Work to create open windows of time during the day when your child can be allowed to do what he wants to do. This may be taking a quick hike with friends, reading a book, etc. Every child needs a time in the day that is not planned where they can do what they feel like doing at that moment. Spontaneity, creativity and reflection time are all important components to a happy childhood.
It is not good for a child to be too busy because when they are they miss out on all of the opportunities that un-structured play presents for them. For example, a number of studies suggest that unstructured play can help children become more creative, discover their own interests, develop problem-solving abilities, and relate to others socially. Few would argue that such characteristics are of vital importance to later development and maturity.
Other parents do not need studies and statistics to agree that a child need to be a child and those simple joys of childhood are the ones that stay with us the longest. When thinking of a child’s schedule another suggested rule of thumb to keep in mind is to practice moderation. It is no healthier for a child’s schedule to be in complete disarray as it is for every minute to be planned. Scheduled and regular activities are wonderful and to be encouraged. However the nature of those structured activities must also be called into judgment. For example, it is not good for a child to be forced to watch hours and hours of educational programming. Even if we think that by doing so we will raise children of above normal intelligence.
If you believe that it is better for your child to be constantly engaged in some activity and to therefore have to time to pretend, imagine and create, then perhaps you see no problem with children being too busy. But, the majority of parents realize the importance of allowing their children the chance to be children. For they will grow up quickly and before you know it their childhood will be gone and they will have no choice but to be as busy as we parents are. Hopefully we can all agree that it is not good for children to be given the same stressors and busy schedules as adults.
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