Anna Quindlen Doing Nothing Is Something Summary

A structured life, a busy life, overtakes the existence we –as humans– lead. Throughout life, we become bound by countless obligations that clog up the highways of our own being. These boundaries, that could be the “grinders” of our highway, require a certain order to keep them together, just as the fragile existence of the food chain always requires a predator and his prey. Without order, this life would be chaos, ever drifting into a plane of fiery hell, or worse… self-annihilation. The bright side to this can only become by leading our own “overscheduled” lives, and this begins with the children. Others such as Anna Quindlen in her essay, “Doing Nothing Is Something”, refute this statement by saying, “Our children are as overscheduled as
Without this strict arrangement, we live in no boundaries where in essence, society corrupts and we fall apart. Some people believe that a child’s life ensures suppression of free-thinking individuals but wouldn’t it make it easier to think outside the box? Often times, the more a child remains restrained, the craftier they become. This can be seen in situations such as the ever so theoretical Underground Railroad. The slaves kept getting caught escaping from their master’s grounds so the abolitionists and escaped slaves came up with ingenious ideas for hiding runaways to make sure of safe passage to the south. Children, like the slaves, will find their own ways of freedom whether wanted or not. Without a schedule, it becomes hard for a child to find their own way in this world. Also, as time proves, children need this strictly chiseled life to keep from doing things in the streets. In the early 1900s, children would roam the streets and create gangs that caused trouble, so, in an effort to clean that up, kids went to school by a U.S. law. This shows that in order create balance, we must keep our children busy and tighten up on