Give children more time to play: Experts
Debbie A. Lubis The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Children, by nature, love to play, but tougher competition ahead has prompted their parents to overzealously enroll them into extensive extracurricular educational activities aimed at bolstering their academic performance.
Not to mention those who are economically unfortunate, Indonesian children nowadays are often forced to use their time scraping around for additional income for the family. In some cases, child street beggars have become the main wage earners in several families.
Child psychologists and activists have sent an early warning to parents about the worrying trend of burnt-out children, which they say will jeopardize the children's personality development.
Some have even gone so far as to claim that denying a child enough play or leisure time is tantamount to a violation of a child's basic human rights.
The fundamental right to be treated as a child, thus allocating considerable time for both study and play, highlights the children's protection bill currently being debated at the House of Representatives.
Soetrisno Kusumohadi, chairman of Communication Forum for Indonesian Children's Development, is among those who believe that leisure time is as important as study to children's development and consequently must be protected in the bill.
"Playing is an essential need for children. Demanding children to become number one at school and forcing them to join many extracurricular academic activities will lead them into a depression," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Many parents in big cities pressure their children to join scientific courses such as mathematics, English and physics, or courses such as ballet dancing, singing, traditional dance and musical instruments after school hours.
Reports said the phenomenon of suicide or joining youth gangs among children in Japan was a result of frustration and pressure from the school atmosphere.
Learning from Japan's lesson, psychologist Adriana S. Ginanjar suggested that parents give children more opportunities to play or to take rest or else they would lose their childhood years.
"Childhood lays the foundation to someone's emotional and intelligence development because, through playing, a child learns how to show empathy and relate to others, respect each other opinions ...," Adriana told the Post.
She said children who rarely spent time for playing could excel in job but not in interpersonal skills. "They will grow as insensitive, boastful, and socially ignorant adults," she claimed.
Parents, she added, must develop their children's potential and creativity through playing because children tend to perceive studying as an obligation.
Adriana also warned parents against treating their children as a cash cow for the family.
"Parents should wisely plan their children's future. Many children lose their self-identity because they are forced to sacrifice their childhood for the sake of money," she said.
Adriana said that parents of young TV stars should be prepared for losing their children's glimmering years someday.
"Maybe the child stars do not mind working because of the money and fame they enjoy, but they will regret someday that they never had a chance to have fun with their peers," she said.