Parents with preschool- and school-age children often complain about their busy schedules, their children's numerous activities, and their limited time to be together as a family. Is this a new phenomenon, or has children's use of time changed significantly in recent years?

Changes in Children's Use of Time

In a national study of children's time and family life, researchers Sandra Hofferth and Jack Sandberg recorded the following changes in how children and families spent their time between the years 1981 and 1997 [12; 13]:

Free time for children -- time that remains after time used for school, meals, and rest is accounted for -- declined by 16%, or 12 hours per week.

Time spent in school increased from 21 to 29 hours per week, with the largest increase being in the time preschool children spent in child care or preschool.

Participation in organized sports nearly doubled for children. Although participation increased equally for boys and girls, boys spent twice as much time as girls involved in sports.

Passive spectator leisure for children -- events in which the child is a spectator, such as watching a sibling play sports -- increased fivefold, from 30 minutes per week to over three hours. (Passive spectator leisure does not include time spent viewing television or playing video games.)

Churchgoing declined by 40%.

Outdoor activities -- such as walking, hiking, and camping -- declined by about 50% during the time period.

Household conversations -- just sitting and conversing -- declined by 10%.

The amount of time families spent eating together declined by about an hour per week.
Positive Outcomes of Changes in Children's Use of Time

One of the most significant changes in recent years has been in children's free time, which has become increasingly structured and is more likely to be spent outside the home in child care, preschool, after-school programs, or sports activities. Although the effects of these changes in children's time are only beginning to be studied, research reports some positive outcomes from time spent in these activities. The positive outcomes include the following:

Academic success. Participation in school sports is associated with enhanced academic performance in some students, and it may reduce a student's likelihood of dropping out by nearly 40% [14].

Enhanced initiative. The development of initiative is a central positive feature in youth development and occurs when youths are motivated to work toward a challenging goal. Structured, voluntary activities such as sports, arts, music, hobbies, and clubs provide optimal contexts for the development of initiative in youths [16].

Developmental gains. Attendance in early childhood programs that meet high standards of care, such as those standards used by national accrediting bodies, is associated with a variety of positive outcomes for children, including greater school readiness, enhanced language and cognitive development, and fewer behavioral problems [19].

Violence prevention. Participation in after-school programs helps reduce juvenile crime and violence and helps youths develop constructive relationships with caring adults [20].

Negative Outcomes of Changes in Children's Use of Time

Despite these positive effects, there are some reported negative effects. These include the following:

Less time for family meals. Teens who regularly eat dinner with their families -- six or seven times a week -- are less likely to smoke tobacco, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs than those teens in families that almost never eat dinner together [18]. So, the decline in time used for family meals suggests that children are receiving less of this beneficial experience.

Pressure to do well. Children whose days are filled with scheduled activities and who feel pressured to do well in many activities are more likely than other children to suffer from stress disorders [4].

Harmful effects of organized sports. Young children who participate in organized sports can develop feelings of inferiority (if they perform poorly), unhealthy competitiveness (if parents and coaches encourage winning at all costs), and long-lasting injuries (if children are playing adult sports at an early age) [8].

Lack of time for unstructured play. The more organized activities in which a child is involved, the less time she has for spontaneous play. Children without adequate time for spontaneous play miss opportunities to enhance their cognitive, creative, language, and social development [1; 2; 22].

The Impact on the Family's Time Together

A more global impact of these changes in children's use of time is the effect on a family's time together. Except in those rare cases when an entire family is involved in a sport or hobby, many of the activities children currently engage in interfere with family routines (such as daily mealtimes or participation in religious gatherings) or family leisure (reading, playing, and talking together). Less time together as a family may mean less emphasis on building family strengths. Family development experts such as Mary Pipher and Nick Stinnet have identified several common characteristics of strong families, including a pattern of spending time together, a commitment to the family, the ability to communicate with one another, and a strong religious orientation [10; 17; 23; 24; 25].

The benefits of a strong family are many. Strong families help to anchor children and provide a context in which to address complex issues that are an inevitable part of growing up in our modern culture [21]. Strong families can also protect children from a range of health-compromising behaviors including drinking, smoking, attempting suicide, and engaging in sexual activity and violence [3; 5; 11; 15].

With so many schedules to juggle and demands on their time, families can feel challenged -- and occasionally overwhelmed -- trying to find time to be together. Bill Doherty, a family life educator and researcher, offers two simple suggestions to parents to help them reclaim family time [7]:

First, says Doherty, make family time a priority. Schedule important family times (such as regular meal times or outings together) first, and all other activities in the time remaining.

Second, Doherty says, limit the use of television, the Internet, and other electronic media if these dominate family life at home.

Additionally, some experts suggest that parents try to be role models for their children when it comes to reducing their own schedules of activity. Children are very attuned to how rushed and preoccupied parents are, and they view their time with parents more positively when parents are focused and calm [9].

Doherty's two suggestions for reclaiming family time sound simple but are not always easy to carry out! Parents can establish realistic goals in reclaiming family time -- perhaps two or three family meal times along with one family movie night, game night, or bike ride each week is achievable. Have fun! Turn off the television; ignore the telephone; focus on one another. These weekly family routines may themselves develop into important rituals, the kind that Doherty calls "the glue that holds families together" [6].

For more information

Families Benefit from Traditions and Rituals Year Around
http://www.cyfc.umn.edu/publications/newsreleases/12-19-01nr.html

Putting Family First
http://puttingfamilyfirst.us/

The Importance of Family Meals
http://npin.org/pnews/1998/pnew298/pnew298h.html

What We Learn when We Ask the Children: A National Conversation about Parenting, Work, and Family Life
http://npin.org/pnews/2000/pnew1100/feat1100.html

Sources

[1] Azar, Beth. (2002). It's more than fun and games. Monitor on Psychology, 33(3), 50-51.

[2] Bergen, Doris. (2001). Pretend play and young children's development. ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document No. ED458045)

[3] Blum, Robert William; Beuhring, Trisha; & Rinehart, Peggy Mann. (2000). Protecting teens: Beyond race, income and family structure. Minneapolis, MN: Center for Adolescent Health. (ERIC Document No. ED450075)

[4] Brooks, Andree Aelion. (1990). Educating the children of fast-track parents. Phi Delta Kappan, 71(8), 612-615. (ERIC Journal No. EJ405156)

[5] Collins, Andrew W.; Maccoby, Eleanor E.; Steinberg, Laurence; Hetherington, E. Mavis; & Bornstein, Marc H. (2000). Contemporary research on parenting: The case for nature and nurture. American Psychologist, 55(2), 218-232. (ERIC Journal No. EJ602767)

[6] Doherty, William J. (1999). The intentional family: Simple rituals to strengthen family ties. New York: Avon.

[7] Doherty, William J. (2002, April). Take back your kids: Reclaiming family time, family rituals, and parental leadership. Paper presented at the Pampered Chef Family Resiliency Program, Urbana, Illinois.

[8] Elkind, David. (2000). Young children and sports--weighing the risks and benefits. Child Care Information Exchange, 135, 14-16. (ERIC Journal No. EJ622000)

[9] Galinsky, Ellen. (1999). Ask the children: What America's children really think about working parents. New York: Morrow. (ERIC Document No. ED439841)

[10] Garbarino, James. (1996). Raising children in a socially toxic environment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (ERIC Document No. ED386524)

[11] Hawkins, David J.; Herrenkohl, Todd I.; Farrington, David P.; Brewer, Devon; Catalano, Richard F.; Harachi, Tracy W.; & Cothern, Lynn. (2000). Predictors of youth violence. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available: http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul2000_04_5/contents.html. (ERIC Document No. ED440196)

[12] Hofferth, Sandra. (1999). Changes in American children's time, 1981-1997. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

[13] Hofferth, Sandra L., & Sandberg, John F. (2000). Changes in American children's time, 1981-1997. Unpublished manuscript. Available: http://www.ethno.isr.umich.edu/papers/ceel013-00.pdf.

[14] Holloway, John H. (2000). Extracurricular activities: The path to academic success? Educational Leadership, 57(4), 87-88.

[15] Jacobson, Kristen C., & Crockett, Lisa J. (2000). Parental monitoring and adolescent adjustment: An ecological perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10(1), 65-97. (ERIC Journal No. EJ599939)

[16] Larson, Reed W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55(1), 170-183.

[17] Morgan, Elizabeth A. (1986). Pioneer research on strong, healthy families. Washington, DC: Family Research Council of America. (ERIC Document No. ED338968)

[18] National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (NCASA). (2001). CASA announces: "Family Day -- A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children" [Online]. Available: http://www.casacolumbia.org/newsletter1457/newsletter_show.htm?doc_id=55835.

[19] Patten, Peggy, & Ricks, Omar Benton. (2000). Child care quality: An overview for parents. ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document No. ED447969)

[20] Patten, Peggy, & Robertson, Anne S. (2001). Focus on after-school time for violence prevention. ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document No. ED455975)

[21] Patten, Peggy, & Robertson, Anne S. (2001). Violence prevention resource guide for parents. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document No. ED461417)

[22] Perry, Bruce D. (2001). The importance of pleasure in play. Scholastic Early Childhood Today, 15(7), 24-25.

[23] Pipher, Mary. (1996). The shelter of each other: Rebuilding our families. New York: Ballantine.

[24] Stinnett, Nick, & DeFrain, John. (1985). Secrets of strong families. New York: Berkeley.

[25] Tunstall, Dorothy F. (1995). At-risk early childhood children, their families, and our future--a beginning view. Unpublished manuscript. (ERIC Document No. ED386841)