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No Homework, No Sports - Just a Night with Family
Ridgewood is a small, quiet town 20 miles from Manhattan, the world's most frenetic metropolis. It is a typical suburban town, perfect for raising children away from the furious pace of the city. However, some Ridgewood kids feel as harried as if they were on the Big Apple's busy streets. In addition to hours of homework, Ridgewood's children are bombarded with afterschool activities - from swimming to piano to religious classes. Some kids live in an atmosphere more intense than that of a New York CEO's 80-hour workweek.
Out of desperation one day, the town decided to schedule another activity. This one was called "Ridgewood Family Night - Ready, Set, Relax!" Instead of schedules filled with sports, music, or overtime at the office, some of the town's 25,000 residents decided to take the night off and stay home. Arranging a town-wide night for families to do nothing was quite a challenge. For a few months before Family Night, a committee of volunteers worked hard to spread the word. Posters were printed and put up around town by local Boy and Girl Scout troops. Younger students took "Save the Date for Me" fliers home to their parents. The mayor issued a proclamation, and schools and clubs agreed to cancel homework and meetings so families could relax and be together.
The tension between a yearning for a more relaxed lifestyle and the knowledge that the benchmark for success has been raised in recent years weighs heavily on the minds of the townspeople. Some parents like to reminisce about a different kind of childhood, one without so many scheduled afterschool activities. As kids, they just went out to play with neighborhood friends after school. However, these same parents considered bypassing Family Night and taking their children to their regularly scheduled activities. These fathers and mothers feel obligated to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today's high-pressure work environment. They are afraid that any gap in their children's physical or intellectual development might mean they won't be admitted to the "right" universities and won't succeed in a more and more competitive world.
Nevertheless, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a point. Cars moved easily around Ridgewood's normally busy downtown streets, and stores and restaurants saw a drop in business. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months. One family watched home movies of when the children were little, baked cookies and played games together. Obviously, the need to de-stress struck a chord with these townspeople.
Initially, there was elation at the prospect of taking back their lives. But sadly, few families believe that one night will change their lives. Many are sure that they will fall back into the habit of over-scheduling their children to be overachieving adults.
Ridgewood is a small, quiet town 20 miles from Manhattan, the world's most frenetic metropolis. It is a typical suburban town, perfect for raising children away from the furious pace of the city. However, some Ridgewood kids feel as harried as if they were on the Big Apple's busy streets. In addition to hours of homework, Ridgewood's children are bombarded with afterschool activities - from swimming to piano to religious classes. Some kids live in an atmosphere more intense than that of a New York CEO's 80-hour workweek.
Out of desperation one day, the town decided to schedule another activity. This one was called "Ridgewood Family Night - Ready, Set, Relax!" Instead of schedules filled with sports, music, or overtime at the office, some of the town's 25,000 residents decided to take the night off and stay home. Arranging a town-wide night for families to do nothing was quite a challenge. For a few months before Family Night, a committee of volunteers worked hard to spread the word. Posters were printed and put up around town by local Boy and Girl Scout troops. Younger students took "Save the Date for Me" fliers home to their parents. The mayor issued a proclamation, and schools and clubs agreed to cancel homework and meetings so families could relax and be together.
The tension between a yearning for a more relaxed lifestyle and the knowledge that the benchmark for success has been raised in recent years weighs heavily on the minds of the townspeople. Some parents like to reminisce about a different kind of childhood, one without so many scheduled afterschool activities. As kids, they just went out to play with neighborhood friends after school. However, these same parents considered bypassing Family Night and taking their children to their regularly scheduled activities. These fathers and mothers feel obligated to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today's high-pressure work environment. They are afraid that any gap in their children's physical or intellectual development might mean they won't be admitted to the "right" universities and won't succeed in a more and more competitive world.
Nevertheless, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a point. Cars moved easily around Ridgewood's normally busy downtown streets, and stores and restaurants saw a drop in business. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months. One family watched home movies of when the children were little, baked cookies and played games together. Obviously, the need to de-stress struck a chord with these townspeople.
Initially, there was elation at the prospect of taking back their lives. But sadly, few families believe that one night will change their lives. Many are sure that they will fall back into the habit of over-scheduling their children to be overachieving adults.