Becky Bennett
The lazy days of summer are upon us and that brings with it the all-important unstructured, “unsupervised” stretch of weeks for our youth. Now, before you start to worry that your local youth development expert is losing her mind, let’s take a moment to explore the concepts of unstructured and unsupervised time.
Think back to the other ten months of the year where our children are in school, extra-curricular activities, church, community programs, and the like. Their days are planned down to the minute and we, as the caring adults in their lives, keep them on a structured schedule to make sure all of their needs are met while they are “accomplishing” all of these tasks. See how those adult concepts start creeping into our kids’ lives so early in life? Were you thinking about all those things you had to get done in the day and how little time you had to accomplish them at eight or nine years old? No! If you were like most of us who were fortunate to grow up in a time where we weren’t surrounded by hundreds of options of entertainment and forced to be part of as many activities as possible to show how valuable we would be for particular colleges (and those scholarships to make that possible), you were probably outside playing a game or wandering the woods or making friends with the neighborhood kids. We were free to grow and learn and explore on our own without adults constantly looming over us…or so we thought.
Unstructured time is defined as just that—a time without plan or structure where one can do as he or she pleases and the mind can wander freely. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Can you imagine, in the middle of your hectic day, a few moments of release from the chains of those nagging tasks you have to accomplish? I’m sure some of the tenseness you were holding in your shoulders let loose just at the thought of such luxury! But here’s the thing…it shouldn’t be a luxury. In fact, having time each day to not think or be busy allows your brain to de-clutter itself, bring your stress levels down, and increase your creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. You’ll often notice, after walking away from a problem you just can’t crack and taking time to take a walk or chat with a co-worker, that you’ll return with a new, more effective solution.
Unsupervised time is not exactly “unsupervised” in the realm of youth development. It is actually a time where our youth feel free to explore ideas or play freely on their own without the worry that they aren’t “doing it right,” or that they have to live up to some unspoken expectation of the adults watching them. How do you feel when a supervisor or colleague is standing over your shoulder while you are working on something new? Do you find you make more mistakes? Do you feel tense because you just know you’re going to mess up and that person is going to judge you, or worse, have you fired? Now imagine a child feeling that way in school while they learn a new topic, in sports when they learn a new technique, during a church lesson, while they clean up a park for community service…their whole day is learning new things under a microscope. It has to be discouraging!
But when do we give them time to recharge, discover things they are interested in, or explore how they learn best? When do we allow them to have unstructured, unsupervised play, or just let them be kids? Yes, they will make mistakes; yes, they will create messes…but they will learn and get excited about life-long learning through hands-on exploration and develop essential life skills along the way. Wow, that sounds a lot like what we do here in 4-H, doesn’t it?
Remember when we were kicked out of the house and told to go play until supper time? Our parents weren’t watching our every move, but they had one eye on us and knew everything we were doing without hovering over us. They saw us make mistakes…but watched us discover how to fix them by what we had already been taught and problem-solving through trial and error. They saw us make messes…but knew it could be cleaned up and often watched us figure out how to clean it up ourselves and keep it from happening again. They watched us grow, they watched our imaginations sore, and they watched us revel in the joys of living. But most importantly, for a few hours each day, they let us discover ourselves.
The missing piece in the development of our youth these days is often self-discovery. By adding this component back into the mix with their structured activities, we’re teaching and adding balance back into the lives of our youth and encouraging healthy habits for life. Not to mention the all-important burn-out prevention! So this summer, let your kids be kids. Don’t over-schedule them, let them have time to just go outside and play with no plan or task to accomplish. You may find you like this routine much more and will find ways to lighten your family’s schedule as the new school year rolls around.
Happy exploring!