Most kids today are far too supervised – their time is accounted for, minute-to-minute.
We have become a majorly activity-oriented society, both adults and children. There seems to be no scope to simply sit, or potter around aimlessly, or doodle idly. All these are seen as a ‘waste of time’.
In our bid to be conscientious and efficient parents, many of us are attached to the notion that everybody should be either busy or asleep!
Besides the studies and mundane daily activities that our children have to do, we also push them into ‘creative activities’ – again, for a supervised, regulated and clearly demarcated time. While this may be enjoyable for kids, it doesn’t necessarily translate into enhanced creativity, or relaxation, for that matter.
Creativity as well as relaxation needs vacant space, where the mind is allowed to run in meandering directions, and not all of them ‘fruitful’ in any immediate sense. We send our kids to a creativity workshop, and they come home with maybe a painting/collage/picture frame and such things. We send them to, say, cricket coaching, so that they get a break from studies and get the benefit of sports activities. But we rarely give them the vacant space to simply stare into space and imagine up things, or ‘aimlessly’ bounce a ball against a wall.
Remember the time, as kids, we enjoyed the simple activity of bouncing a rubber/tennis ball between our palm and the ground without a break? Remember ‘playing around’ with different kinds of lettering or doodles on paper? This was not ‘sport’ or ‘creativity’ in the modern sense of the term, but it no doubt was relaxing, enjoyable, and yes, may have even enhanced hand-eye co-ordination, drawing skills, etc.
Today we are terrified of our kids being bored. But boredom, one could say, is the mother of invention! How many interesting and imaginative games, activities, jokes, projects and conversations have emerged from the fact that a bunch of children are ‘bored’ in their holidays and have to invent a way to have fun.
Today, we complain that kids day-dream or lack focus during school hours. One of the reasons for this to happen is that children are so over-supervised at home, their time is so completely accounted for, that some of them find it easier to ‘disconnect’ in school, in a class full of other kids, when they can be physically present, but no one will notice that their minds have wandered off. Day-dreaming, lack of concentration, distracted behaviour, then become the common complaints from parents as well as teachers.
Perhaps we need to ‘let out children be’ – so that their natural instincts for exploration, discovery, invention, creation, enjoyment and relaxation rise to the surface and flood their minds and bodies.