Play deprivation is a major cause of the teen mental health crisis
We have really made it a point to have our kid play freely as much as possible and minimize scheduled activities (piano lessons etc.) the problem is that most of his friends are in a million classes so even if he’s free, they often aren’t.<p>That’s been the big challenge. So then there are these magical days where they all don’t have any activities and those invariably happen to be the days ALL kids look forward to. Cuz at the end of the day, they just want to play with their friends.<p>But that has taken planning in the past where we coordinate with parents for those free play days.<p>But those days are the exception. I wish they were the rule.<p>We’ve actually noticed how amazing his mood is after a day full of unorganized play hanging out with friends.