Two recent sociological studies show a close link between the education level of mothers and the number of extracurricular activities of their children. Moms with college degrees enroll their children in far more extracurricular activities than mothers with less education - whether it's because they want their children to have every advantage, because they want to reduce their guilt over working outside the home, or because college-educated women tend to be more driven in general, researchers say.
One study showed that a mother's college diploma in some cases doubles the amount of time her child spends in sports, art and music activities, and the impact of mom's educational level far outweighs the family's income or the mother's employment status. Sociologists say that, if American families want to reduce life's frantic pace, college-educated mothers will have to be among those on the forefront of reexamining their values. "There's a social movement going on among middle-class families in which they are reexamining the number of activities their children are involved in, and the impact it has on family life," said Annette Lareau, a Temple University sociologist who conducted a study analyzing nearly 1,300 childrens' schedules and their family life. "If things are going to change, it's going to be the college-educated women who will be the first to set limits."
Claire Holland, a 44-year-old lawyer, said she tries to strike the right balance between giving her four children a healthy exposure to activities, while keeping family life sane. She has an enormous kitchen calendar, plus a palm pilot, to keep track of the soccer, gymnastics, basketball, and drama lessons that her children take part in. She also scaled back her work hours to a part-time schedule, roughly 20 hours a week, so she can serve as the family's chauffeur.
"I deliberately set it up this way," she said while picking up her son at a Watertown soccer field last week. "It's the only way it could work."
While the treadmill of youth activities traps parents in minivans and interrupts family dinnertime, sociologists and educators don't know yet whether keeping children busy in structured activities is good or bad - or both.
"The problem of the overscheduled kid is so new that nobody's studying it yet," said William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota. "This is a new problem on the radar screen of researchers."
The explosion of children's activities took place over the past two decades, researchers say, fueled largely by the jump in college-educated women who entered the work force and/or the ranks of motherhood, demanding that children spend their leisure time in instructive ways.
As the number of female college graduates in the early 1980s rose to equal males for the first time, the number of youth activities soared. From 1981 to 1997, the amount of time children spent in art activites grew by about 150 percent and sports by about 30 percent, while the amount of time they spent visiting with friends went down 20 percent, according to Sandra Hofferth, a University of Maryland sociologist who has also measured children's time allocation.
While family income clearly makes a difference in determining what sports or enrichment activities a family can afford, Hofferth said her study found that maternal education level was the most powerful factor. (Her study, as well as Lareau's, did not closely examine the father's educational background because of data showing it generally equals or exceeds a mother's and studies showing a mother's more influential role in deciding how kids spend free time. Sociologists say educated women are most likely to have adopted the view, backed by some educators and child psychologists, that the premier childhood includes exposure to an array of sports and other enrichment activities. This not only enables a child to discover hidden talents, but gives them the social and competitive skills necessary to negotiate the modern world.
"Childhood is seen by these mothers as a time to foster talents and expose them to different kinds of experiences," said Lareau. "We call it 'concerted cultivation' - and it's largely seen as the mother's responsibility in today's society."
Her study, conducted along with Temple University sociologist Elliot Weininger, found that working mothers, not fathers, were the ones who were largely responsible for being the schedulers and chauffeurs of their children's activities. For instance, if a mother worked an additional 10 hours a week, the child's participation in activities declined by about 40 minutes a week. If the father's work hours intensified, there was no similar drop in the child's activity level, said Weininger.
Maternal guilt among college-educated working mothers may also play a role in the treadmill of after-school activities, said Sharon Hays, an associate professor of sociology and women's studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She said many working mothers may feel guilty about being away from their children, so they insist on giving them enrichments that they could not themselves offer if they were home.
"These mothers may feel they have to redouble their efforts to show they are a good mom," Hays said.
Doherty, the University of Minnesota professor, said he believes many families fail to realize the negative impact that a frenzy of youth activities has on family life, including limiting the number of family dinners and other shared activities. Doherty, who has begun a grass-roots organization called "Putting Family First," said there are data showing that strong family connections make a big difference in the well-being of children.
He said he's not surprised that college-educated mothers feel like they have to sign their kids up for more and more activities.
"This is very much about wanting to prepare children to compete in the world," he said. "It's looking at parenting like product development."
But other sociologists say most parents are well-meaning as they shuttle their kids from one activity to another, not thinking as much about competitive edge as they are about the enlightened view of good child development.
Jerry Jacobs, a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, said future research may tell what level of activity is ultimately good for society - and for children. Until then, many American parents, he said, will probably continue to drive to soccer fields and piano recitals to try to better their children.
"It's mostly about trying to give your kids as much as you can," Jacobs said.
Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
