负荷过重的美国儿童

For most public schools, Columbus Day means a day off. But for Melissa Driscoll and her two daughters, there is no rest for the weary.

Well, we're two Brownie troops, so we're gonna, err¹, go to Agnes Farm and pick some vegetables and fruits and it's part of our activity for earning our Try-it Badge.

But today's report says it's parents who should try lightening the load when it comes to overscheduling.

Children now have, are engaged in a lot of enrichment activities, you know, extracurricular activities, sports activities----we think that's great, we just want balance.

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg is a pediatrician and co-author of the 32-page report which says free and unstructured play is essential for the physical, social and emotional well-being² of children.

We've had to understand that play or even in school, for example recess³, allows kids to reboot and as they reboot, they're gonna absorb all of the rest of life's lessons more effectively.

Dr. Ginsburg also says all work and no play could not only make Jack⁴ dull, it could make him depressed⁵.

We're taking care of a lot of kids who are showing the manifestations⁶ of stress, you know the bellyaches, the fatigue⁷, they're not sleeping well enough. You know by the time they get to college, there seem to be increasing levels of anxiety and depression.

But many parents fear slowing the pace means not keeping up with the Joneses or the Joneses' kids.

So what do you guys wanna do today? Would you rather...

That hasn't kept the Brown family from Fort Worth, Texas, from keeping two days a week free, just for fun.

My son looked at me and said, Mom, I just want some me time. And I said, OK.

It was too much...

And the parents we spoke⁸ with knew all too well about the perils⁹ of overscheduling.

So I'm just curious, do you get the sense that kids today are over-scheduled?

Absolutely, we actually had to make a conscious decision to unschedule them, and to make more family time. Because we realize we're raising kids we didn't even see.

My wife and I both teach, so we try to really under-program as opposed to over-program.

Really, why?

Just so kids have a chance to grow up to be kids.

So if you're in a quandary¹⁰ about how much is too much, you may wanna go directly to the source.

Would you rather be going to the farm or just hanging at home?

Hanging at home.

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extracurricular:extracurricular activities are things that you do at school or college that are not part of your program of study 课外的
bellyache:informal a pain in your stomach 腹痛

1 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

2 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

3 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 manifestations   

n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• These were manifestations of the darker side of his character. 这些是他性格阴暗面的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To be wordly-wise and play safe is one of the manifestations of liberalism. 明哲保身是自由主义的表现之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

10 quandary   

n.困惑，进迟两难之境

参考例句：

• I was in a quandary about whether to go.我当时正犹豫到底去不去。
• I was put in a great quandary.我陷于进退两难的窘境。