The (over) scheduled child in a busy, busy world

Compared to some, the schoolchildren of Sonoma Valley Unified are lucky: they get a real summer, 10 beautiful weeks to explore the backyard, stargaze well past bedtime, practice holding their breath underwater at the nearest pool, or just laze around in their jammies a bit. In many districts across California, children follow a year-round school schedule, enjoying only a few weeks off in a row at any particular time. The disparity has inspired a contentious debate: Is a long summer vacation efficacious for children? Does leisure inspire creativity? Or would the developing brains of our youngsters be better served by a more consistent school calendar? Should school look more like work?
A generation ago, summer vacation started right after Memorial Day weekend and stretched clear through Labor Day. For three entire months, most of America’s children ran barefoot and free, obliged to occupy themselves with activites of their own invention.Forts built in a cluster of trees, festooned with mom’s old tablecloths and towels, became pirate ships on nefarious errands. Clubs of neighborhood kids, organized by purpose, forged lifelong friendships. Kitchen cupboard contents, commandeered to create “stores” outside on the deck, taught grown-up survival skills to kids eager to imitate their moms and dads. Play was the work of childhood, once upon time.
Fast forward to 2007: dad works, mom works. Everyone’s running furiously, moving as fast as they can. What are they to do with the children all summer long? One mother muses, “I try to balance my work life with the kids’ need for vacation. Luckily, my job is so flexible I can usually accommodate us all. I’ll work after hours, swapping an evening for an afternoon, or take the occasional Monday or Friday off to concentrate on family. Remembering the fun summers I used to have, I feel incredibly lucky to work where the importance of family is recognized.” And when work trumps family? “Summer camps,” answers another mom. “God bless summer camps.”
Yet another local mother, a successful portrait artist, believes in the inspiring power of boredom. She believes the relationship between ennui and creativity is directly proportional, that without acres of of unscripted time and space to let a mind wander freely, the human animal cannot tap into its true creativity. Without the motivation inspired by an agitated sense of wanting and needing something worthy to do, we’d never uncover our deepest capabilities. In a world where summer seems to get shorter by several days each year, and children are scheduled and summer camped and “playdated” their every moment scripted and controlled, is it possible that an entire generation of children might never discover theirs?