The ever expanding menu of after-school tuitions, co-curricular and sports education programmes available to children can be too much of a good thing. Although it presents 21st century children with unprecedented opportunities to learn new skills which could transform into Plan B careers, it often prompts FOMO (fear of missing out) parents to sign them up for too many extra-curricular programmes. That’s why in a multiplying number of middle and upper middle class homes, children’s daily schedules are crammed with a host of tuition, co-curricular (music, theatre, dance etc) and sports training programmes. Especially after two years of wfh during the pandemic, there’s been an explosion of interest in co-curricular and sports education, with parents eager to make up for the loss of extra-curricular education, going all out to enroll children in after-school activities.
The outcome of overloading children’s daily time tables is that millions of children are under stress to manage crammed schedules. There’s rising incidence of children reporting high stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, eating disorders and depression. With no time for unstructured play, bonding with family, study and homework, the end result is fall in school grades. While there’s no doubt that well-balanced, holistic education is beneficial, child counselors warn that over-packed daily schedules are counter-productive. Several latter day studies have highlighted that busy after-school activity schedules can damage family relationships and adversely affect children’s emotional development and well-being.
In our cover story this month we shine a spotlight on the dangers of well-meaning parents overloading children’s extra-curricular time tables. Child development experts present valuable advice on ways and means to balance academic, co-curricular and sports education of children. We argue that while it is the obligation of parents to discover and enable children’s multiple intelligences, they simultaneously have a duty of care to ensure that children don’t suffer stress and anxiety managing packed extra-curricular activity schedules.
There’s a lot else in this issue of ParentsWorld. Check out the early childhood story recommending ten foods that boost children’s brain development, and a special essay on how parents’ internet addiction can rub-off on children. Also highly recommended are our advisory columns — Ask your counselor and Ask the doctor — in which well-qualified child counselors and medical practitioners answer parents’ queries on issues ranging from child anger management to menstrual/puberty troubles.
