Child stress is on the rise and for all sorts of reasons. It might be an unhappy or broken home situation, a health condition, inconsistent parenting, expectations set so high the child cannot succeed or they might be plain tired.
One reason for child stress is scheduling their time with too many extra-curricular activities e.g. after-school sports, drama, dance or music lessons. They have been at school all day and can barely get any homework done before they are whisked off to some other activity which requires concentration. Their brains cannot sustain constant over-stimulation and they can easily become tired, frustrated and despondent.
Kids need time to just have fun. They need time to rest, relax and recuperate and not have their hours scheduled to the extent that there is no spontaneity. Kids also need time to develop their imagination and this won't happen if they have no time to read and free-play. (Neither will it happen if they are sitting in front of the TV.)
It is not necessary for a child to learn to play every instrument in the orchestra - even if they want to. Sure they need to be exposed to all sorts of activities to help them find their passion. However, this needs to occur over time, one or two activities at a time.
We need to look hard at our kid's daily program. They should have rest periods between each activity. They get up so early for school and often do not have a regular bed-time. We need to protect them, not overload them.
While we want them to reach their full potential, this will not happen if they feel constantly hurried from one thing to the next.
Written by Sally and Brian Burgess
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