Children with busy schedules may be at a developmental disadvantage, according to professor David Elkind's book, to be released later this year.
"No Time for Play: The Over-Programmed Child," will discuss the concern of many psychologists that overextended children do not have enough room for creative and psychological growth.
Elkind believes that parents should not feel pressured to fill up their childrens' days with activities, because a little boredom is good for a developing child's imagination. "It doesn't really take much reflection to appreciate ... over-scheduling is stressful," he said.
Child Development lecturer George Scarlett shares this concern, and thinks that children are not as independent as they used to be. "I think all of us are worried by the way children spend less and less time organizing themselves, [one example being] backyard sports, and more and more time being organized by adults," he said.
At the same time, Elkind said he is also concerned about the psychological under-protection that many children face, in large part thanks to an uncensored media. This problem is often combined with the physical overprotection that parents often impose.
"Over the last few decades, thanks in part to the media that makes every reported child accident seem too omnipresent, we now protect our children physically," he said. "But we don't seem to protect children psychologically, and expect them to deal with issues like divorce, AIDS, child abuse and so on at an early age."
He explains that children now face the negative effects of both increased psychological stress and decreased amounts of risk-taking experiences than they did in the first half of the twentieth century.
Scarlett raised the additional concern that children don't spend as much time with their parents as they should. "In late afternoons, [children are left] home alone before parents come home from work," he said.
One possible solution to this "seemingly contradictory picture," as Scarlett termed it, of children kept too dependent in some ways and forced to be too independent in others, is that parents coordinate their agendas with those of their children.
"Ideally, then, there [should be] some balance, and there should always be some effort to foster positive and close relationships," he said. "That is key."
Another issue that parents face is how much time to allow children to watch TV and surf the Internet. Elkind believes that too much exposure to electronics can be damaging.
"Some television, computer games, and net-surfing makes sense as children get older, but it needs to be limited and children need to be given time to engage in free, unstructured play," he said. "Such play provides learning experiences children cannot encounter in any other way."
Elkind also noted that parents too often give in to their child's demands for presents because they feel guilty about not spending enough time with them.
"A good set of wooden blocks is the best gift parents can give their young children. As they grow older, children will use the blocks in more organized and imaginative ways," he said.
Scarlett also noted that the commercialization of children's toys is a topic of concern for Elkind.
"Big business now makes the toys and toy material for children, with children's best interests [taking a back seat to] what will make money," he said. "Professor Elkind is concerned that this trend furthers a separation between children and the best values in our society."
