Overscheduled Children: How Big a Problem?

Bruce Feiler:

Now that the school year is under way, my wife and I are busy managing our children's after-school schedules, mixing sports practices, music lessons, homework and play dates. It can be a complicated balancing act for our elementary-age daughters, as some days end up overstuffed, some logistically impossible, some wide open. Still, compared to when we were children, the opportunities they get to sample on a weekly basis is mind-blowing.

There's only one problem: To absorb the conventional wisdom in parenting circles these days, what we're doing to our children is cruel, overbearing and destructive to their long-term well-being. For years now, a consensus has been emerging that a subset of hard-driving, Ivy-longing parents is burdening their children with too many soccer tournaments, violin lessons and cooking classes. A small library of books has been published with names like "The Over-Scheduled Child," "The Pressured Child," "Pressured Parents, Stressed-Out Kids" and so on.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 13, 2013 12:49 AM
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