Elementary and high school-aged students are constantly reminded of the importance of extracurricular activities in their lives. It's true that engaging kids in organized activities after school, on weekends and during school holidays can be beneficial in a variety of ways, but extracurricular activities can also have downsides.
Colleges and universities are looking for well-rounded students. College applications inquire about extracurricular activities to gauge potential students' interests, ability to follow through on commitments and, most importantly, ability to balance activities with schoolwork. Participating in a variety of extracurricular activities, especially in a leadership capacity, while maintaining good grades will look better on a college application than will a straight 4.0 GPA with no activities.
For working parents who cannot be home when their children get out of school, extracurricular activities are a great way to make sure kids stay busy and are supervised, rather than coming home to an empty house or spending weekends and summers sitting idle around the house.
However, balancing schoolwork with extracurricular activities can be stressful for some students, especially when an abundance of activities takes up valuable time they need to study or complete homework. A student's involvement in extracurricular activities can put stress on the whole family when parents have to rush to shepherd kids to various tightly scheduled activities.
Some families may
