Kids Fare Better When Doing More

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, August 14, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- So you shuttle your kid between school, karate lessons, piano lessons and soccer. Recent reports about stressed out kids may have you feeling a little guilty, but a new report reveals all those extracurricular activities do more good than harm.

Child development researchers analyzed the current literature and statistics on extracurricular activity involvement and how it affects children. They discovered the American child spends an average of five hours a week on organized after school activities. That breaks down to 40 percent of kids not participating in organized activities. Kids who are involved usually spend less than 10 hours a week participating. Only about 3 percent to 6 percent spend 20 or more hours a week involved in organized activities.

The researchers -- from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Michigan in Dearborn, Mich. -- report there is not enough evidence to support the idea of a trend of excessive activities leading to maladjusted and unhappy teens.

Instead, the researchers found the majority of kids involved in after school activities do so because it's what they want to do, not what their parents are forcing them to do. They also found strong evidence that kids involved in organized activities are less likely smoke and use drugs, more likely to continue their education after high school, and have better relationships with their parents than kids who are not involved in organized activities.

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SOURCE: Social Policy Report, 2006:20:4