The Biggest Parenting Mistake of this Generation

When I was growing up in the 60’s-70’s, kids usually had one after school or summer activity, and the rest of playtime was unstructured. I can remember collecting bugs, catching crawdads or frogs, riding bikes, building forts, playing Kick the Can or Hide and Go Seek, pick up baseball, basketball, football or soccer, just to name a few. Our imaginations went wild thinking of the possibilities. The endless rummuging thru the house or garage looking for any object that could be transformed through the magic of a child’s mind.

Sadly, those days of creativity seemed to have gone the way of the dinosaur. Today, parents are so fearful of their child running free that they over structure with endless programmed activities. From morning until bedtime, children are being moved from one group session to another. To make matters worse, they let whatever free time remaining to be swallowed up by video games.

THE RESULT, children in these situations have very little imagination or creativity. I have witnessed it in my classroom for years, that the students who are lucky enough to have unstructured time away from the computer or TV, have a much deeper sense of abstract creativity. The projects they turn in radiate with imagination. In addition, their ability to work independently and with little or no prompting is geometrically greater. Those children being structured to the minute, sit expressionless, offering little in the way of thought or creativity. They require prompting to complete each step of an activity.

It’s is time to learn from our own childhood, that free time in ithe words of my Aunt Bambi, in her book “Dammi La Mano” (Lend Me your Hand) that “a child’s work is play”. The ability to think comes from being allowed to try things, to experience ideas thought of in a moment of fun with neighbors.

Americans have long been known for our sense of creativity and ability to think beyond the fence. I fear that is going to be in jeopardy unless parents let go of the notion that free play time is dangerous with all the perverts and drugs in our society. Sadly, the theme of “Moderation in all things” has been surrendered to the concept of “Busy time is safe time”.