The benefits of having an ‘overscheduled’ child
In face of digital distractions, keeping kids busy through set activities could be helpful
Tennis, soccer and track. Piano and band. It sounds like a lot, especially to anyone who was raised to just go outside and play. But here’s what I’ve found: Even with aftercare until at least 6 p.m. every weekday, the demands of homework, regular reading, a pretty busy social calendar and a pet, there remains enough downtime in my 9-year-old daughter’s life that I still have to restrict screen time. And that’s in a household that doesn’t have many screens.
If there’s one parenting cliché more common than that of the overbooked child whose spare time is filled with sports practice, tutoring sessions and music lessons, it’s the one about the pasty kid who languishes in front of video games, starved for exercise, fresh air and human contact. Considering that alternative, is being busy so bad?
Many educators, researchers as well as exasperated parents are embracing the benefits of the scheduled lifestyle, especially in this day of so much digital temptation. “Downtime has become screen time,” argues Delaney Ruston, an internal medicine doctor and filmmaker who created Screenagers, a 2016 documentary that explores the challenges of parenting in a digital world. Researchers have been pushing back for some time against this notion that children spend too much time in scheduled activities. A 2008 report on “The Overscheduling Myth” from the non-profit research group Child Trends found that “contrary to popular belief, research rejects the notion that most or even many children and youth are overscheduled and suffering as a result.”
That report referenced a long list of benefits of scheduled activities, from higher self-esteem to lower rates of drug and alcohol use over time. It also found that children who are involved in multiple activities are usu- ally able to maintain a balance in their lives. Typically, they still spend more time on school work and other unscheduled activities such as informal games, household chores and watching television.
Today, of course, the television is the least of the worries of any parent concerned about screen time. And while individual parents may wage war against screens, too often, the screen wins. Many children carry phones and are required to do a lot of their homework in front of screens, meaning they have a constant source of distraction in front of them.
Most educators and researchers agree there’s no optimal number of activities; it depends on the kid. Even those who advocate for multiple activities still encourage parents to make some time for their children to just be bored. “For some children, having scheduled activities when screens are hard to resist can be hugely beneficial. But the ultimate goal should be to have a mix of activity and unscheduled downtime,” says Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “It’s important to let kids be a little bored and see what comes out of that boredom.”
Yet in our house, even though we don’t have any video games and often can’t find the charger to the Kindle, screens do seem to find their way into that elusive downtime. Recently, I prodded my daughter to practise piano, only to discover that she was practising piano — on my phone.