Have you noticed the recent trend in greetings? When adults meet, the traditional question “How are you?" tends to evoke, not a response about one's current state of health or mood, but a comment on how busy one is. This is often followed by a recitation of what activities one has completed and those that are scheduled in the future. Accompanying sighs and expressions of time constraints convey an image of time pressure and stress. What are adults modelling for our youth with this pattern of behaviour?
There is a lot happening in busy families. Students have several academic and co-curricular activities that keep them occupied. Young people with high energy levels need healthy outlets for that energy. The pace of life in society today is busy. Many of us also choose to adopt numerous additional activities and responsibilities which create very busy lives. Occasionally frenetic activity acts as a distraction from facing important issues or experiencing unpleasant circumstances.
Constantly rushing and “flitting" from one thing to the other minimises our ability to focus on tasks for extended time. This pattern does not provide an environment in which we can carefully consider options, develop, and execute a plan, then benefit from careful reflection. To cover all the curriculum in the allocated period, term time is busy and as the term progresses, students as well as teachers, tend to feel time pressured.
Holidays provide an important opportunity for students to balance their busy lives. Without the need to travel to school, students can be more flexible with their time. Perhaps holidays were arranged to incorporate rest, relaxation, time with friends, extended periods reviewing academic work, catching up on activities, working on assignments and planning for the term ahead. This can all be undertaken in a less pressured time frame. Periods of exercise, rest and relaxation might precede deep reflection and highly productive focused attention. Alternatively, active work can be balanced by the reward of time with friends, reading or other relaxing activities.
Healthy, productive, and successful adults have learnt how to create a balance between work and play. It isn't always easy to achieve this balance during term time when the demands of a rigorous program require an almost constant commitment to academic tasks, but holidays thankfully provide an opportunity for balance to be established. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday break and used the time to rest, relax, re-energise, catch up and focus on what lies ahead.
© Michele Juratowitch
michele@clearingskies.com.au