Forget about the spectre of overprogramming your teenager.
If teens are interested in signing up for violin lessons, soccer and drama club, tell them to go for it, says a researcher who studies the effects of organized youth activities.
"It's the parents who are overprogrammed," says David Hansen, a professor of human and community development at the University of Illinois. "... Research doesn't support the idea that the kids are."
In recent years, there has been a backlash against involving children in too many scheduled activities, with some experts cautioning that club meetings and hockey games could be eating away at kids' free play - with negative effects.
But, in fact, more structured activities may be better than fewer, Dr. Hansen says.
While a few hours a week of such activities offer some benefits, the positive effect is boosted by doing as many as 10 hours a week, according to a study he published last month in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Dr. Hansen surveyed 1,822 Grade 11 students from 19 high schools about their experiences in extracurricular activities including sports, performance and fine arts, academic clubs, leadership and community-based groups (such as Scouts), career and technical organizations, and service and faith-based groups.
The teens answered questions about the amount of time they spent on the activity. They also addressed their motivations and their positive and negative experiences in such areas as identity development, social skills and teamwork.
Kids who put in more hours reported more rewards on those fronts. They also reported that their chosen activities helped them carve out an identity, set goals, regulate their emotions and work in a team.
Matteo Ferrero-Wong knows all about keeping his emotions in check. When he began goalkeeping in a competitive Toronto soccer league three years ago, his team lost nearly every game.
Now a veteran between the goalposts, Matteo, 12, says those early losses taught him how to stay focused and keep his cool.
"I was going into games not expecting to do really well, but wanting to do really well," he said. "When they score a goal now, I just let it go and think about the next shot."
His mother, Flavia Ferrero, said she believes it is just as important for youngsters to taste the bitterness of defeat as the sweetness of victory.
"We don't always win in life," she said. "It can make you stronger, it can make you more determined to win the next time. I think it really helped him."
Dr. Hansen says looking at the role of youth activities that take place outside the classroom - and not solely revolving around peer or parental expectations - is crucial to understanding teens' development.
When teens are really into the activity and have chosen to spend time doing it, he says, "they're learning things there that they don't learn elsewhere."
This is especially true when it comes to activities linked to future personal or career goals, and those in which teens take on leadership roles, he adds.
Kim Charteris, manager of teen and young adult leadership programs at the YMCA of Greater Toronto, said the study verifies the internal research of her organization.
"Young people need and want structure," said Ms. Charteris, who oversees the development of about 600 teenagers through the Youth Leader Corps, a year-round program specializing in enhancing life skills, community service and team building.
"We often think of teenagers pushing adults away, that they don't want us. But that's not right. They don't want us holding their hand. They want to do their own thing, but they want to know an adult is there to support them."
Dr. Hansen is about to do more research on whether youth participation in more than 10 hours a week of activities reaps diminishing returns. For now, he says, "there doesn't seem to be a case in which there is too much."
Instead, Dr. Hansen says the more worrying scenario is one in which a teen shows no interest in being a joiner. Previous studies show an increased likelihood of risky behaviours, he says.
"Those are the kids we're concerned about, mainly because they're apt to also be disconnected in school and possibly from their families."
