Let kids be kids this summer

Editor:

Baseball, softball, archery, swimming lessons, family vacations, football camps...the kids in our area seem to have plenty to do this summer. Could it be that they are, in fact, overbooked?

Over the past 15 years or so, there seems to be a trend among well intentioned parents to keep their children occupied at all times, with as many sports and other extra-curricular activities as it’s possible to completely fill in a young person’s “free” time. The assumption is that (1) we want to expose them to as many activities as possible and (2) we want to keep them from wasting hours playing computer games and living a sedentary life.

Both are worthy goals. But I’m wondering what has happened to the truly “free” time that kids used to fill with activities like wandering in the woods, catching tadpoles, pretending they were famous explorers, climbing trees and capturing bugs. I feel badly for kids whose calendars are so filled with structured activities that their parents have become social secretaries. The kids end up with a lot of mediocre experiences and no discretionary time. Some come to believe they are experts in a particular field or endeavor because they took a four-day class in the subject. They become the proverbial “jack of all trades, master of none,” while missing out on the chance to learn independence, practice the art of contemplation, and exercise their fervent imaginations.

I’m encountering many kids who presumably (according to their parents) want to do dog training classes, for instance. Yet they’re incapable of committing the time and effort required to accomplish anything of substance. They are now accustomed to be rewarded for mediocrity, at best. Apparently it’s better to be “mediocre” at many things than to apply one’s self and become truly excellent at one thing. Does a child really need to participate in sewing, photography, cooking, dog training, livestock raising, art, and gardening all in one summer? Why not pick one or two and truly excel at those?

The best athletes, the best musicians, the best artists, and the best of any profession generally identify their passions when they are young and stick with them to adulthood. I would encourage area youth--and their parents--to help them find one or two activities and apply everything they have to those disciplines, assuming the child is passionate about them. If the passion is not there, then let the child roam the woods, exercise his imagination, learn from trial and error, and discover his own passions. His parents need not sign him up for every 4H project, every school activity, and every dance class to help him discover those passions.

Sanders County kids are blessed to live in a place where their back yards (the forests and mountains) are still the best playgrounds in the world. My hope is that parents will allow their kids to enjoy the coming summer with less structure and more time to just be kids lucky enough to live in “the last best place.”

Jan Manning, Trout Creek