Hope Academy “mom extraordinaire,” Claudia Neely, passed on a couple of articles that she thought would be of interest to the other parents. If you are wondering if your child is over-scheduled, recent research suggests that the “hurried child” is actually a myth; and that most children do well, in fact better, in life if they are participating in many activities. “We found that the very active children were thriving emotionally,” said Hofferth, a family science professor. “In contrast, children who had the fewest activities were the most withdrawn, socially immature and had the lowest self-esteem.” It turns out, no surprise, that it is not the kids but the parents who are stressed! The complete article is here.
While active children tend to be happier, new research cautions parents of adolescents to make sure that all of the activity doesn’t interfere with getting enough sleep.
“Adolescents whose parents set earlier bedtimes are significantly less likely to suffer from depression or have suicidal thoughts compared to youngsters who hit the sack later, new research indicates.
Youngsters in the study whose parents set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24% more likely to suffer from depression and 20% more apt to have thoughts of suicide, compared to youngsters with bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier, researchers report in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.” To read the entire article, “Earlier Bedtimes May Fight Teen Depression,” click here.