Over-scheduled Kids- Are we stopping their freedom? -Amelia D
When I was a child, I used to come home when the streetlights turned on, but times have changed. In my personal experience, society has shifted from when parents would allow their children to roam free in the neighbourhood with no worries. When children would go about their day and make their own choices, when you could walk up and down the streets of neighbourhoods and see bikes sprawled out on the grass of all the neighbourhood kids taking a break from outdoors, it is unfortunate to say that in today’s society we’d be lucky to see one bike outside. Why is that? Many today will say it is due to the lack of safety for children in neighbourhoods, as there are constantly hearing about kidnappers, child molesters and school shootings. According to a study done in the UK regarding outdoor time, Ben Fogle says more parents admitted that their children did not play outside as much as they had during their own childhood, with 26 percent saying they spend less than 30 minutes a week playing outdoors based on the concerns and worries of safety. (Fogle, 2014).
I was born in 1994, the 90s was a great time to be a kid, as far as I am concerned. Play was everything to me and my siblings- technology wasn’t a big a part of children’s lives as it is today, and even when I used technology it was to play games like Math Circus. My parents only allotted small increments of time for TV watching, the rest was used enjoying the great outdoors and using our imaginations to create these wonderful play experiences.
I recall so vividly being in the school play yard with friends during winter, and building forts, something so simple turned into the most elaborate play. We turned our forts into stores, used markers to color on snow and make “gems” in which we sold to the stores (other forts) for larger boulders. I.e. One colored gem was worth a small sized boulder, two colored gems were worth a medium sized boulder and so on. We appointed each person and group different jobs, there were the workers who made the boulders, the buyers, the sellers etc. In that small activity, some many skills were practiced and learned. I learned how to work within a team, communication skills, negotiating, problem-solving, decision making and creativity.
Children are naturally drawn to the outdoors, however, play is becoming more and more limited due to busy work schedules, Working in the early childhood field, I can first hand say that so many of my students as soon as they leave the center they are immediately being thrown into all their extracurricular activities, pickup time has gone from parents asking their children “How was your day?” to it being replaced with “Let’s go, we have soccer at 5:30”. These activities don’t happen only once a week, its everyday something different, when do these kids even have a chance to be children? To be free, without having to worry about going to yet another scheduled activity? “With children penned in by too much structure, lacking the chance and encouragement to “go out and play,” make up their own games and use their imaginations, we’re hurting them.” (Levs, 2017). Now, this is not to say that I don’t believe scheduled extracurriculars don’t have benefits for children, but children need balance, between extracurriculars and them forming their own choices. If we eliminated at least 50% of children’s extracurriculars, that would enable children to actually go outside and have time for themselves. “we’re depriving them of what childhood should be – a time of freedom and character-building”. (Levs, 2017)“we’re depriving them of what childhood should be – a time of freedom and character-building”. (Levs, 2017)“we’re depriving them of what childhood should be – a time of freedom and character-building”. (Levs, 2017)
References:
Levs, J. (2017, October 02). Whatever happened to ‘go outside and play’? Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/living/let-children-play-outside/index.html
Baker, L. (2014). How to Give Your Kids Freedom in a Dangerous World. Retrieved from
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-give-your-kids-freedom-in-a-dangerous-world-1638140713
Carter, C. (2014, April 06). Children spend less than 30 minutes playing outside a week. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/10747841/Children-spend-less-than-30-minutes-playing-outside-a-week.html
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