New research into the lives of children seems to debunk the widely held idea that parents are harming their children by pressuring them to participate in too many activities. A trio of researchers from Yale, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas found that, in fact, children benefit academically, socially, and developmentally from participating in activities. Joseph L. Mahoney of Yale says we should worry less about the 60 percent of children who participate in activities and more time worrying about the 40 percent of children who do not.
Study can be found here.

Seems to me, this would make a good weekend, Lifestyle section story that goes against the grain of common wisdom. Those highly pressured, stressed out kids who just want to kick back? Actually, they like being busy. (Someday we might see a study that finds that learning doesn't stress young children out either!)