Burnout warning for kids

BURNOUT caused by exhaustion from too many extra-curricular activities could cause students’ marks to suffer, researchers are warning.

Parents are being urged to find a balance between study and sports, musical instruments and tutoring after school hours to ensure students aren’t being run down by their activities and hobbies.

Monash University Associate Psychology Professor Marie Yap said it was crucial for parents to avoid pressuring kids to undertake extra-curricular activities because it could leave them without enough time to complete schoolwork without the workload becoming overwhelming.

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland’s Parenting and Family Support Centre, Dr Alan Ralph, said letting burnout-related stress go unchecked would also impact a young person’s mental health.

“Academic and extra-curricular burnout in children and young people can manifest in feelings of exhaustion, negativity, and inadequacy. Children of all ages need leisure time to relax, play, and come up with their own things to do and even become comfortable with being bored,” he said.

Deakin University’s Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development senior lecturer Dr Elizabeth Westrupp said it was important for families to split up the “juggling act” of schooling, hobbies and afterschool activities. “(Covid) forced us to slow down, and it’s really easy to let that lesson go,” she said.