Busted: The Myth of the Over-scheduled and Stressed-out Generation
Posted by Amber Robinson at 4:13 PM on October 2, 2008
Barely a day passes without a hand-wringing article decrying the poor stressed-out kids of today who are herded like sheep from one after-school activity to the next.
But a new study shows that participation in organised activities is in fact linked to positive outcomes in school, emotional development, family life and behaviour.
“I found the opposite of what I expected,” said Sandra Hofferth, of the University of Maryland, who will speak at the 30th International Conference for Time-Use Research in Sydney in December.
The children most at risk had no activities at all. This group were more withdrawn and socially immature, and had lower self-esteem.
Dr Hofferth found in her study of 331 children aged from nine to 12 that the best off led a balanced life with involvement in one or two activities, for less than four hours, over the two days tracked in the study. Almost 60 per cent of the children fell into this category. But even the 25 per cent who best fitted the description of “over-scheduled” were doing almost as well on a range of measures.
“We just don’t find that the children who are more active are more stressed,” Hofferth said.
So there you go. Anyone for tennis?
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