I try to strive for a good balance. But, I also hope to give my kids at least a little bit of an old school free range childhood like I had

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

They literally run out of time. If you have a big sports thing Saturday morning that rules out Friday night for getting blasted. Also a big driver of binge drinking is boredom

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Anonymous wrote:Overscheduling threads are wild. I'm participating in one on the sports forum. Alot of ppl don't acknowledge it as a real thing

I think almost everyone agrees that overscheduling is by definition bad. However, the threshold for overscheduling is highly subjective. The folks on the sports board trying to impose their definition of overscheduling on every family are quite comical.

I’d like to know where people draw the line. An activity per week day? Never having two activities on one day? Certain number of hours per week?

Every child is different. Every family is different.

A family with a high-energy only child and a SAHM is likely to have a busier schedule than one with lower-energy twins (who have each other for stimulation/socialization) and two parents who work out of the house.

Overscheduled is something that doesn't work for YOUR child(ren) and YOUR family.

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

DP. Lots of teenagers drink because they're bored/looking for something to do. Extracurricular activity participation is generally connected to lower rates of substance use.

A lot of teenagers drink and do drugs because of anxiety, depression, feeling pressured etc..

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Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge believer in busy kids/teens so I'd want to make sure they have free time.

How much?

Even adults who work 96 hours a week have some amount of "free time."

How much is enough for your kids?

This really depends on whether your kid is an extrovert or introvert. My extrovert loves being "over scheduled"

Pretty much the moment we step indoors, "What can I dooo?"

But I wonder if a kid like that has an even greater need for free time to be bored and figure out how to conduct and entertain himself?

That's just not who he is. He's the kid at McDonald's playplace who will set up a play scenario with all the other kids, kids he's just met, get everybody playing the same game. He was like this since he was a baby.

I think that's a great skill! But how does he have the chance to exercise that if you plan every activity? Lots of kids enjoy high levels of stimulation and social activity but that doesn't mean that you have to schedule that in. It may mean going to a park for two hours and playing with whomever is there.

I think by overscheduling kids lose out on more than they gain

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

DP. Lots of teenagers drink because they're bored/looking for something to do. Extracurricular activity participation is generally connected to lower rates of substance use.

I just I guess think teens should be able to entertain themselves without getting into trouble. I think I'd be so mad at my kid if they did stupid stuff because they were "bored."

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

DP. Lots of teenagers drink because they're bored/looking for something to do. Extracurricular activity participation is generally connected to lower rates of substance use.

we are on the edge of it. We have space for free/down time now but I worry the balance will erode in the next year as the kids continue to move up in their competitive sports leagues.

Summers are always off though, other than development camps that they choose to do.

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

The part that I don't get is, I understand that they may have less opportunity, but how are activities stopping them wanting to drink? That doesn't just magically go away

Personally For our family my kid is “over scheduled” When There is always some place they *have* to be and There is little room for spontanity in their day. Pretty much if Their life is dictated by a schedule - whether they seem to like the activities or not.

Also, if my kids have to choose between activities. One kid only had a few activities but they overlapped - so they were leaving one activity early or getting fo another late because of conflict in times.

I personally do a dance when i get a randomly assigned twice a week activity schedule for one kid and it beautifully syncs with the activity for the other with little re-tracing of steps and stress for us parents.

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Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

I'd let them do activities if they want, I just won't overschedule. It's not like I think activities are bad

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.

Ok, you are free to do what you want with your own kids! Enjoy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge believer in busy kids/teens so I'd want to make sure they have free time.

How much?

Even adults who work 96 hours a week have some amount of "free time."

How much is enough for your kids?

This really depends on whether your kid is an extrovert or introvert. My extrovert loves being "over scheduled"

Pretty much the moment we step indoors, "What can I dooo?"

But I wonder if a kid like that has an even greater need for free time to be bored and figure out how to conduct and entertain himself?

That's just not who he is. He's the kid at McDonald's playplace who will set up a play scenario with all the other kids, kids he's just met, get everybody playing the same game. He was like this since he was a baby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't seem like too much to me. Busy kids have less time for trouble! Signs of too much would be constant complaining, never has time to be bored and self entertain, not getting enough sleep, anxiety

I don't agree with the trouble premise. First of all, not all kids are going to do those things. And then, overscheduling may make it harder for them to get into trouble, but not impossible. It doesn't take away a kids desire or curiosity for troublesome behavior.

Look up how Iceland solved its teen drinking problem

I've read it. I still don't think kids should be overscheduled.