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Different kind of pressure but there WAS pressure on children 100 years ago (and more). The industrial revolution put kids to work in dangerous jobs in factories. There was the pressure not to get killed or maimed by the punch press you were working. At the age of 10. There was also the pressure to work 14 hour (or more) days with no breaks mandated by law. There was the pressure of having to work as a child so you could eat and have shelter.
Want to talk about the pressure of picking cotton when you were 10? I've talked to people who had to do it. In the mid 20th century. Right now, in this country, children as young as 14 are allowed to pick crops legally. Stoop labor picking strawberries. They work to help support their families. Think they have pressure?
Today's "pressure" of worrying about having the right phone? Minor by comparison IMHO.
If you ask me, kids these days get to be kids almost indefinitely. My coworker is 22 and has never lived outside of her mommy and daddy's house. Now she's getting all huffy because her parents are asking her to pay for her share of the house hold expenses including a bit of rent.
Yes. An entire public school for children g/t in science and engineering. So?
We take the top 1-2% in every district, in our area.
I never said I do not believe you but unless you are claiming the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is lying I have no idea why you would presume to think that is the norm for every teenager in the country.
It may even be the norm for kids in your town, in your SES, but so what? It is not the norm in the nation.
Again, all you have proven is your kids have so much leisure time that they can do a bunch of activities afterschool that kids 100 years ago would not have time for. What is your point?
I was in 2 ap
classes in high school,and never had more than and average of 1 hour of homework a night,so i agree with you. If you add in studying i could push the number to 2 hours.
Although I do mention HS, it was just to show the entire life cycle of the schedule. I know that in the past things were different, harder. Then they got easier and now they are different. But just because it was done doesnt mean it was right. I am meaning young children. I feel like responsibility builds over time, and absolutely there are more than a few who never get taught responsibility and thus end up entitled snot nosed adults. But there are plenty of kids who end up well rounded adults who have a sahm parent who lets them just be a kid. The 50s and 60s were not the norm previously but the "romanticised" nuclear family worked, until it didnt do to the country changing. But the idea is still the same. No matter what kind of family who have and no matter what sort of life you live, i feel like kids need a little more time to just be kids. Less organized everything. Kids are just over scheduled, from birth. Like a poster mentioned, there was a time when kids had unstructured play dates and this and that with their peers, but there are soooo many activities that even if little johnny has tball on thursday but nothing on wednesday, his best friend micky has karate on wednesday. its just my impression. I also understand the need and desire for both men and women to work and not be tied to the house all the time. I know that what works for one doesnt work for another. I also dont agree with the idea of "unschooling", although I am giving homeschool a decent consideration, it will be a structured environment because the world isnt just a free for all. But little kids that are only 2, 3, 5, 6 dont need the stress of being shuffled from one constant scheduled thing to the next all day everyday. Just my opinion. And one poster mentioned that I obviously have never had a child keep me up all hours of the night and thus cant appreciate the need to get them to sleep through the night asap. I have a 4 year old. He didnt consistantly sleep through the night until he was more than 6 months old. I nursed, on demand when he was hungry. And to this day he still wakes me up in the middle of the night, usually just to tell me he is going potty. In the last 4 years i have rarely slept through the night. But I love it and hate it and i do it. the middle of the night feedings were the best time because it was me and him and quiet and bonding.
Hmm, one problem...I come from generations of working Moms!!! My Grandmother was a legal secretary, her Mother was a telephone operator, her Mother worked in a bar, I don't know beyobnd that, my Mother was a teacher...so, somehow the kids grew up fine, with working Moms, same as mine.
I don't know what kids you know.But the common view.is.kids.have too much time being kids. Kids are less likely to have pt jobs often going into college.never working. In fact most people iknew durkng h's spent large amounts of time doing nothing at all after school.
Well i can tell you that after school looking up the road i see plenty of kids outside playing with each other after school
So i don't know what about that is structured. The fact is kids today have more time to be kids than any time in the past. I still hear ales from my near 100 year old jana talking about how when she was young she had to help around the house starting when she was old enough to remember.
I did to. I guess it just hard for me to explain exactly what i mean. Every child and household is different and i know that i made blanket statements, but i thought it would be understood that every kids life isnt like that. But apparently not. So i will say it, obviously every kid has it different. I helped out at home to. I had chores. and did my hw and played outside and built forts in the woods. And played softball. But i think that there being an activity 3 or 4 or 5 days a week on top of all the school and hw is a bit excessive. everyone needs structure and everyone needs downtime. I think, from my own personal experiences out in the world, that a lot of kids dont get enough downtime to just chill. Little kids, not teenagers. I mean you cant very well let a 6 yr old walk home from school, or ride the bus, at 230 and sit by themselves until mom gets home a 6 pm. so the only option is some sort of afterschool thing. but if they dont get home until six and then dinner at 630/645 then showers/baths then storytime and bed at 8 when are they just spending time playing with mom and dad or friends? or even siblings
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