Expert weighs in: Are children over-scheduled and overworked?
Primary school learners are even hopping on to Teams calls for school-related tasks, and they seem more booked and busy than adults are!
It is an age-old debate: are children doing too much, with too many activities and not enough time to be children?
While many might think that schoolchildren having fully booked schedules is a more recent, modern phenomenon, it has been happening for decades.
There is also a divide between parents who don't want their kids to focus only on after-school activities, tutoring, and projects, and those who want their kids to stay out of trouble, succeed in one of these activities, or even participate in activities they couldn't when they were young.
Parenting is never a one-size-fits-all, and is one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Will we ever know which is better: kids being too busy or not busy enough?
Is there even such a thing as "balance"?
The Drive with Rob and Roz asked listeners for their opinions, and as expected, everyone agreed to disagree.
Childless Rob Forbes and proud mom Rozanne McKenzie decided to settle the matter by seeking expert advice.
Laken Folster is a Counselling Psychologist whose clients include children and adults, including individual, couples, group, and family therapy settings.
She utilises skills learnt from:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Solution Focussed Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Person Centred Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Play Therapy
Folster joined the Drive team on the show and shared more insight into this debate by confirming whether or not children are too busy:
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