Health & Parenting

Kids Really Aren't Overscheduled

The Overscheduled Parent continued...

"We shouldn't have to choose between our children and our careers, but that is a choice that society forces us to make," she says.

"The system doesn't encourage parental leave, and it gets worse the higher up the ladder you go. Flextime and job sharing aren't options for CEOs of major corporations," Luthar adds.

Rather than discouraging kids from participating in organized activities, we should be exploring ways to engage the large number of children and teens who don't participate, Mahoney says. That means making organized activities affordable and accessible to everyone.

"Transportation is a big problem for many families, especially when both parents work," he tells WebMD. "If these activities were affordable, and reliable and safe transportation was provided, that would cut down enormously on the stresses that many parents feel," says Mahoney.