ALL WORK AND NO PLAY:WHY YOUR KIDS ARE MORE ANXIOUS DEPRESSED

In “All work and No Play: why your kids are more anxious depressed,” Esther Entin talks about how kids don’t have enough free time or that their free time are different from their parents free time when they were younger.  Peter Gray, a Ph.D. professor of Psychology said, “It is hard to find groups of children outdoors at all, and, if you do find them, they are likely to be wearing uniforms and following the directions of coaches while their parents dutifully watch and cheer.” Researchers compared the kids in 1981 to kids in 1997 and found out that kids in 1997 “spent less time in play and had less free time.” 18 percent was spent in school and 145 percent was spent doing homework. They said that children only spent about 11 hours per week of playing. When children have free time, they direct there free play and solve their own problems. Gray said, “Children who do not have the opportunity to control their own actions, to make and follow through on their own decisions, to solve their own problems, and to learn how to follow rules in the course of play grow up feeling that they are not in control of their own lives and fate. They grow up feeling that they are dependent on luck and on the goodwill and whims of others.” I don’t think kids have lost their play time. I see kids outside playing in the park. I don’t feel like homework get in the way. Teaches have been giving kids a lot of homework but they can get it done in about 30 minutes if they stay focused and then they would have enough time to play. Sometimes I do feel like the parents are guiding their kids and sometimes the kids don’t have a say of what they want to do. I never was in that situation so I wouldn’t know a lot about it.