Research note: American children's time use in after-school activities

Percept Mot Skills. 2003 Oct;97(2):449-50. doi: 10.2466/pms.2003.97.2.449.

Abstract

90 Grade 4 children from upstate New York completed a "what I usually do" questionnaire, reporting on their after-school activities. Contrary to the concerns of some psychologists, there was no evidence that the children were being "hurried" out of childhood or "hot-housed" to develop academic or other excellence. The children's time was largely spent in enjoyable, self-chosen, and nonacademic activities, most often play or television viewing.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living / psychology
  • Child
  • Choice Behavior
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internal-External Control
  • Leisure Activities*
  • Male
  • New York
  • Play and Playthings
  • Psychology, Child*
  • Reference Values
  • Socialization
  • Television
  • Time and Motion Studies*