The Value of Downtime

by

Rae Pica

During our own childhoods, no one could have predicted there would ever be a need to defend play for kids. Even a decade or so ago, the idea of campaigning for rest and downtime for children would have seemed ludicrous. But things have changed -- and not just a little, but in an opposite-end-of-the-spectrum way. There are now organizations working tirelessly to advocate for play, among them the Alliance for Childhood and the American Association for the Child's Right to Play. Even the United Nations has weighed in on the subject. Article 31 in the UN Convention on the Rights of Children recognizes "the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child."

Intuitively, you know that your child -- that everyone, in fact -- needs downtime. No one, even the most energetic among us, cares to rush through their waking hours, day after day after day. You know how stressful it is to be overscheduled, over-pressured, and overwhelmed. You've witnessed the toll it takes on adults -- and you don't want to exact the same price from your child.

Still, you wonder if it's enough for him simply to engage n ordinary play and recreational activities. To spend time doing "nothing." Take a poll of parents and they'll agree that play is important for children. But even people with the strongest conviction can waver when faced with pressure from neighbors and friends who are convinced that their children's college applications will outshine all others if they just keep their kids busy, busy, busy. Naturally, you're going to worry you'll be letting your child down if you allow him just to be. What his resume looks sparse in comparison to those of his counterparts? What if he never "finds himself" because you didn't push him to try a multitude of activities? What if letting him simply play turns him into a lazy person?

Here are some other questions I'd like you to ponder:

• If children begin living like adults in childhood, what will they have to look forward to?

• What's to ensure they won't be burned out from all the pushing and pressure before they've even reached puberty?

• If we've caused them to miss the magic of childhood, what will kids later draw upon to cope with the trials and tribulations of adulthood?

• What will become of the childlike nature adults call on when they need reminding of the delight found in simple things -- when they need to bring out the playfulness that makes life worth living?

• What joy will our children find as adults if striving to "succeed" becomes life's sole purpose?

In a poll conducted in 2004 among early childhood professionals, "family stress" was rated as the number one challenge to the well-being of today's children, with "hurried childhoods" ranking second. These were the only two categories identified as challenges by over 50% of the poll's respondents. Here are some other reasons we might want to consider more downtime for our children:

• In a 2004 Washington Post article it was reported that the use of antidepressants among children grew three- to ten-fold between 1987 and 1996, and a newer survey found an additional 50% rise in prescriptions between 1998 and 2002.

• According to one study, the number of children being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, many of which are for attention deficit disorder and other behavioral problems, is estimated at 2.5 million -- a number that surged 500% between 1995 and 2002.

• Preschoolers are being diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders, among other psychiatric ailments.

• Many young children's brains now look remarkably like the brains of overstressed adults, with excess levels of cortisol and adrenaline.

• In 1995 the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 150,000 preschoolers (10% of them 2-year-olds) were taking antidepressant drugs.

• A 2006 study conducted by KidsHealth revealed that more than four in 10 children feel stressed most, if not all, of th etime. More than 75% of the children expressed a longing for more free time.

Clearly, something is wrong. Clearly, downtime is not a waste of time but an essential component in a child's current and future welfare and success.

What happens when a child's time if scheduled and programmed -- directed by someone else -- from morning till night, day after day? In addition to the stress it causes, an overscheduled, overprogrammed life at an early age assures that the child will never be able to entertain herself. Will never be able to live inside her own head. To deal with solitude or quiet time. She may not get much of it as an adult, but for her sake I hope there will be some. And when there is, it would be awfully sad if she felt panicked at the idea of having to keep herself amused. If she felt she absolutely had to be in the company of others.

If we want children to grow up to be resourceful, they'll have to start practicing now. That means they need unstructured time and lots of it -- in big, uninterrupted chunks.

Rae Pica is a children’s physical activity specialist and the author of A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child (from which this article is excerpted). Read more of what she has to say at her blog, The Pica Perspective, and hear her interviews with experts in the fields of child development, education, play research, the neurosciences, and more at www.bodymindandchild.com.