Do kids really need so many scheduled activities?

Posted on 03 01, 2007 under Master Debaters by Paul Simpson | View Comments

scheduleMost kids don’t really need cell phones, but most of them could use a Blackberry or Palm Pilot to keep their weekly schedules.  Parents track their kids’ whereabouts on color-coded calendars and spend a great deal of time shuttling them from one activity to another.  That Dunkin’ Donuts commercial with the mom driving her kids all over creation in the minivan (Ka-ra-taaayyy!) is remarkably accurate. 

Back in the day, when we used to have to change the television channel by turning a knob attached to the set and Ford Pintos roamed the earth, being a kid seemed much less complicated.  You only had a few things on your agenda.  Every kid went to school and then played; and you had maybe one extracurricular activity, like Little League baseball or Boy Scouts.  Not so these days. 

Maybe you think it’s imperative to expose your kids to as many planned activities as possible; or maybe you think kids don’t need to have every hour of their daily schedule filled.   So tell us how you feel:

Do kids really need so many scheduled activities?

This is the latest installment in our Master Debaters Question of the Week Series. There are some topics that seem to fall into the consensus category: drunk driving is bad, guns kill people, Transformers are better than GoBots. But that only covers less than 1% of the decisions you and your spouse make towards the upbringing of your kids. The majority of issues tend to fall more in the gray area.

Here at Noodad.com, we take pride in delivering important advice for dads. But we realize that some of our advice is subjective. The collected readership surely has things to add and unique perspectives to contribute.

So, where do you weigh in?

 

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  • foodad
    I think that scheduling activities gives kids variety and also discipline. It\'s never too early to learn about how to adhere to a schedule and it gets them used to it. I would love to see studies about focus and discipline in kids who have schedules versus those who do not.
  • Harry
    If the kid is happy and willing, bring on the activities. It\'s a much bigger and broader....and let\'s face it, more competetive world everyday. Why not expose our kids to everything and anything their hearts (and our wallets) can reasonably afford?! If they\'re interested and engaged it can only help to broaden their understanding of the world around them. If you\'re dragging your kid kicking and screaming to each place, then it\'s time to scale back.
  • latiamh
    I don\'t think too many scheduled activities are good for kids. Why such a strict schedule? The lack of family time and the frazzled parents should be enough to want to have only one or two events two week for the kids.
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