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Scheduled kids never get bored
Free play fading
Not long ago, a kid could head out to play with only a time to be home, checking in and out to grab something from the fridge. Now kids are in camp, with known pickup times and shuttling to the next activity. Even in a great suburb where they still go outside, there is less free play time.
Lost serendipity
The first worry is serendipity. When everyone they meet is planned for them, through play dates or sports, there is little chance to bump into people and be put on a ledge to develop new friendships.
Lost boredom
The second is boredom. Sitting on the couch telling a parent there is nothing to do used to lead to picking up a book or watching TV, the two things available. Kids don't seem to be bored anymore.
Why might boredom help creativity?
In a 2014 study at the University of Central Lancashire, psychologists Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman asked people to copy numbers from a phone book for 15 minutes. Those participants then came up with more creative uses for a pair of plastic cups than a group that skipped the dull task. The researchers suggested that boredom prompts the mind to wander and search for stimulation. Their results appeared in the Creativity Research Journal.
How much has children's independence shrunk?
A 1990 study titled One False Move, by British researchers Mayer Hillman, John Adams, and John Whitelegg, surveyed parents of children in England and Germany. It found that in 1971 about 80 percent of seven- and eight-year-olds in England went to school without an adult. By 1990 only about 9 percent did.
Why do chance meetings build friendships?
In a 1950 study, psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, and Kurt Back examined friendships among residents of MIT's Westgate housing complex. People were most likely to befriend neighbors who lived close by or whose doors and stairways placed them in frequent contact. Residents living next door were the most likely to become friends, and the likelihood dropped with each additional door of distance.