Some parents like to organise every aspect of their children’s life. I strongly disagree that parents should get so involved in planning and scheduling the free time of their children.
There are several reasons why parents organising the leisure time of students could have more adverse effects than benefits. Firstly, children might see this behaviour as micro-management from parents which could lead to potential negative associations to free time and strained relationships with parents. Secondly, children might start associating the free time as another activity or task, contradicting the whole concept of relaxing and having fun. Lastly, children might become too dependent on their parents for planning and lack crucial decision-making skills.
I believe that having kids plan their own time could help them in more than one ways. It would help them get better at planning and managing things and also aid their decision-making skills. This would make children more independent and prepare them for the real world. Besides this, children are full of whimsy and surprises and have very peculiar interests. Most of children’s time has already been scheduled either by schools or by additional classes. They get very little time to get out of their mundane schedules. Having them have spontaneous free time could nurture their creativity and fuel their curiosity. This would help them become more inquisitive and enable them to try out new things. For example, I remember when I was a child I tried out various hobbies and activities to truly discover my passion. Since then I have actively honed my painting skills and let it grow on me naturally, making it an immense source of joy for myself.
In conclusion, my opinion is that children should be allowed and encouraged to plan their own free time as this has various positive effects impacting their well-being as well as helping them out in the long-term.