After writing A Moment of Quiet is Nothing to Fear, I thought it would be interesting to research some academic viewpoints on how young minds may be impacted by the noise of today's busy American lifestyle.
I started by exploring the importance of fostering imagination and encountered a wonderful piece written by Jacque Grillo, Director of Lone Mountain Children's Center in San Francisco. He also carries credentials as an Early Childhood Specialist, Marriage and Family Therapist. Of course I completely identified with the following advice from a piece he published on the Being Savvy Web site which is linked below.
"Don't rescue your child from boredom. Let there be times each day and each week when there is nothing to do. If you have every minute planned and programmed then what you've taught your child is to be dependent on adults for ideas and the opportunities for creative expression. Out of the experience of nothing -- nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to be with -- comes the possibility of discovery, imagination and creative expression. Make time to celebrate nothing!"
Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, whose work examines what he has calls hyper-parenting was my next resource. I really liked his keynote address to the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries which he delivered in May, 2008 and although there are many great insights to highlight, this quote caught my attention,
"Parenting is a higher calling than being a cruise ship's activities director! Perhaps more importantly - and what comes as a surprise to many parents -- boredom can actually be beneficial; it can stimulate kids to hear the soft murmurings of their inner voice, the one that makes them write this unusual story or draw that unique picture."
www.hyper-parenting.com/start.htm (Click featured speech May, 2008)
You may find this piece on hyper-parenting and a Q&A about busy children in the Chicago Tribune to be of additional interest:
www.connectforkids.org/node/296
www.hyper-parenting.com/chicagotrib2.htm
I also read the work of David Elkind, Phd., author of The Power of Play. On the first page of his introduction, Dr. Elkind cites that "over the past two decades, children have lost twelve hours of free time a week, including eight hours of unstructured play and outdoor activities." He goes on to identify influencial factors such as the added hours spent in front of the television as well as other screens, the ubiquity of commercial toys and characters, increasingly test-driven curricula and less time allotted for recess or other free play as key factors shaping child development today.
This short piece by Dr. Elkind in Psychology Today provides a snapshot of his insights:
www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030128-000002.html
And the following is a link to an editorial piece he wrote for the Boston Globe in October, 2006:
www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/09/the_hidden_power_of_play/
This last article appeared in Ladies Home Journal. Written by author Patrick Kiger and titled Today's Super Kid this piece provides some positive examples of families who have learned to take some of the schedule-related stress out of their households.
www.lhj.com/relationships/family/raising-kids/todays-overscheduled-kids/?page=1