BAN BUSY

Between 1984 and 2008, student scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, dropped nearly 37%.

Artists and engineers alike come up with more innovative ideas when they are able to think creatively. But today’s high-stakes education culture has swallowed up time for creative exploration in and out of the classroom. We need to give our children time for the creative growth that will help them thrive now and beyond school.

#BanBusy to make time for creativity.

Source

87% of high school students are chronically sleep-deprived.

In 2014 the American Academy of Pediatrics warned schools of a growing sleep loss epidemic among students. They called on schools to push start times back to 8:30 a.m. or later. Among the other culprits they cite for sleep loss? Homework and extracurricular activities. Students today often sacrifice sleep in order to keep up with heavy workloads. But they’re losing a lot more than Zzz’s. Sleep deprivation can lower academic performance, exacerbate physical and mental health problems and even knock off IQ points temporarily.

#BanBusy to allow time to sleep and recharge.

Source

Studies show that children who engage in more unstructured activities (e.g. free playtime) have better abilities to be self-directed and accomplish goals.

Self-direction is a critical skill for children to develop in order to thrive later in life. The stronger a child’s self-directed executive function, the greater their ability will be to make their own decisions, organize their life, initiate important tasks and cultivate and fulfill personal goals.

#BanBusy to help children develop self-direction.

Source

Since 1981 the time children spend playing outdoors has dropped by 50%.

When children have time to play, it improves their psychological health, social skills, and ability to learn. In Finland, teachers give their students frequent recesses during which the children can spend time on unstructured activities and interact with one another. These frequent breaks cause students to be more attentive in the classroom, while allowing them time to develop critical social skills.

#BanBusy to make time for play.

Source

One in four teens reports “extreme stress” during the school year.

Today’s packed student schedules leave little time for young people to decompress and recharge during the day. Under such unrelenting time pressure, it’s hardly surprising that teens are registering alarming rates of stress, anxiety and depression. According to the American Psychological Association, 30 percent of teens say they are sad or depressed due to stress. Left unchecked, stress can lead to sleep deprivation, stunt growth and facilitate greater physical and mental health problems in children and adolescents. But here’s the good news - when you ban stress, student performance can actually improve. When St. Louis School of Medicine implemented efforts to reduce stress among med students, depression rates dropped significantly and performance went up.

#BanBusy to de-stress our children.

Source

Daydreaming and mental downtime are important for reflection, self-awareness, fostering creativity, improving functioning ability, and sustaining emotional well-being. For growing children, unstructured time can be an opportunity to let their mind wander and reflect over their day, their decisions, and who they want to be.

#BanBusy to create time for reflection and mindfulness.

Source

Students entering college today have 40% lower empathy rates than their counterparts did 30 years ago.

We tell our children what we value by how we encourage them to spend their time. Experts suggest that today’s busy achievement culture may to blame for a growing “empathy gap” among our students. The decline of play in favor of structured activities means that children have fewer opportunities to connect meaningfully with peers and practice social skills. A study conducted at Harvard University also showed that 80% of 10,000 middle and high school students now believe individual achievement and happiness is more important than caring for others.

#BanBusy to help children connect and create a caring culture.

Source

The average elementary school student gets less than 30 minutes of recess per day.

Over the years, school schedules have eaten away at recess time. Add to that students’ ever-growing homework and extracurricular loads and you have little time left over for regular exercise. With childhood obesity and diabetes on the rise, it’s more important than ever to make sure our children have time to be active. Plus, physical activity has been shown to be positively related to academic performance and can help improve a student’s overall physical and mental health.

#BanBusy to keep students active.

Source