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4 Summarising the findings
It is clear from the study that there were different patterns to different types of children's daily activities. Combining the findings from the schedule and the diaries, some overall conclusions can be made about how children spend their time. We did a crude averaging of the time children spent on various activities throughout the weekday and the weekend day studied.
Sleep
On average, children slept around nine hours a night. There was very little variation between weekdays and weekends, with children sleeping on average nine hours on the weekday sampled and nine and a half hours at the weekend. Children who shared rooms had more interrupted sleep.
Productive activities
Most of children's time spent on productive activities was concerned with going to school or, in two cases, working. The total average time spent in productive activities on a weekday was six hours and 48 minutes, with four hours of that time being spent on lessons or working. This may be an underestimate of the time normally spent at school and is accounted for by the fact that some children were interviewed on a Friday when a number of schools finished an hour earlier than normal.
The majority of children who were eligible to go to school did so most days. There was little truanting or skipping lessons, which may reflect the combined vigilance of carers and teachers. Homework was not an activity much liked or undertaken to any length, with four fifths of children spending less than one hour on homework.
Only three children had any part-time paid work. With one exception, this was for less than two hours. However, most children were expected to help with household chores, although over half spent less than half an hour on these, often reluctantly.
After school clubs were attended by over half the children for between half an hour and two hours a week. Only four children attended activity clubs such as scouts.
Although 22 children said they had a social worker, it was difficult to elicit from children the normal amount of time spent with social workers as this seemed to vary. There was also no regular pattern of meeting. In addition, three children were engaged in regular therapeutic counselling.
At the weekend, the total average time spent on productive activities had dropped to one hour and 48 minutes. If the three children who worked part-time are removed, the time drops even further to 54 minutes, reflecting a pattern of activities that might be expected in the general population (see Ben-Arieh 2002).
Contribution to the community
From the diaries, there were no examples of children contributing to the community, although one child did help disabled children for two hours, once a week. Two others contributed to the community of their school, on average between one to two hours a week.
Religious activity
No child, either in the diary or from the interview schedule, engaged in religious activity during the week, except for participating in religious studies in the school curriculum. At the weekend, six children spent an average of an hour to two hours at a place of faith.
Travel
The average travel on a weekday in the diaries was one hour and 18 minutes, which was mainly to and from school. Some children felt deprived of after school contact with friends because of distance.
Travel on weekend days was around an hour, mainly concerned with socialising with peers and consumption.
Personal care
The average time spent on eating over the two days of the diary was one and a half hours on a weekday and slightly less, one hour twenty minutes, at the weekend. There was most variation in eating breakfast. On weekdays, lunch was generally eaten with friends while, at the weekend, there was no consistent pattern. Evening meals tended to be eaten with others - staff and friends in residential care, carers or other children in the household in foster care and no pattern across home supervision. There was a surprisingly consistent pattern of four fifths of children eating with others at a table although, in a minority of cases, this activity was combined with watching the television. Eating was a structured activity in many households, irrespective of setting.
Getting ready (self-presentation)
The average time spent getting ready for school was one hour 12 minutes although, within this average, there was a wide range from five minutes to over two hours, therefore, the average may be slightly misleading. Indications from the schedule were that more children spent less than one hour getting ready on weekdays while the average for getting ready at the weekend was just under two hours. This accords with children's accounts of spending more time choosing clothes and styling their hair at the weekends.
Social interaction with peers
Children indicated social time with peers after school was important to them. On a weekday most social interaction took place at school breaktimes, lunchtimes and after school. In general, children spent on average one and three quarter hours on a weekday on social interaction, according to their diaries. This rose to three hours and ten minutes at the weekend, which reflected time spent with peers in leisure activities.
Time spent with significant adults
The average time spent with adults on weekdays was four hours and, at the weekends, just slightly more. There was considerable variation within this average, from one child being in the company of a key worker 24 hours a day to a child who, by choice, spent one hour with the foster family and the rest in her room. The findings overall support the idea that looked after children are spending periods of time with carers or parents but it is difficult to tell from the findings the quality of this time. A minority of children in residential care expressed a wish to have more time with their carers.
Time alone or with others
The diaries were able to tell us how much time children spent alone. Children spent more time with other children or adults than alone. Over the 48-hour period of completing the diaries, on average, children only spent six hours alone in total, excluding time for sleep.
Leisure activities
Overall, children spent, on average, four hours on a weekday doing a variety of leisure activities. They spent two hours 48 minutes watching television on a weekday while, at the weekend, children were spending five hours 18 minutes on leisure activities with less time (two hours) spent on watching television.
Some children were very active and sporty and some spent all their leisure time watching television ( see case studies in Chapter 5). The time children spent on different activities varied and there were no patterns within the three care settings. Much seemed to depend on the culture of the household or unit. Some children said that being looked after had given them opportunities to engage in activities they had never done before. Once presented with that opportunity, for example, to learn how to climb, children wanted more of the same. A minority of children were expert at one activity and spent a good deal of time improving their performance. Overall, being looked after away from home seemed to present children with opportunities for active leisure pursuits but it was not clear if children were encouraged to make maximum use of these and what happened if they chose to be sedentary. However, having time to be alone and to chill out may also be an important activity for looked after children.
Consumption
This was an interesting category since consumption, in terms of shopping or going to the cinema or, more rarely, going to theatre/concerts, was generally undertaken with others. During the week, only half an hour a day was given to consumption, most of which was buying snacks and lunch with friends. At the weekend the average time spent on consumption rose to one hour and twenty minutes, reflecting time spent shopping with peers or carers or going to the cinema. Consumption was less an activity for those living at home though it was difficult to ascertain why this was so. It might well have been that these children came from families whose level of income did not permit them to engage in this activity.
Conclusion: children's daily activities - so what?
This small study has shown that looked after children spend their time doing similar things to other children who are growing up. In fact, their daily lives are often ordinary but can be rich in their diversity, as the case studies in the next chapter show. Like others, the children in this study go to school, spend time with friends and adults and have leisure time to pursue active or quiet interests. Sometimes, they just want to be alone.
Being good at something is important for every child. Some children test themselves actively by climbing mountains or dancing. Others achieve through artistic creativity. Such activities help to build self-esteem and confidence. For looked after children, being confident is critical to building resilience. Resilient children are more able to overcome adversity.
The study reveals the importance of relationships in children's lives, both with adults and other children. Setting appropriate boundaries helps children feel safe and cared for. These are essential components of good parenting. Looked after children, like all children, develop effective social relationships by being with their friends. They learn how to like other children and be liked by them. Being accepted and included are particularly important in helping looked after children develop a positive sense of self.
What the study shows is that, when children are given opportunities, they make choices. Such choice gives children a sense of control over their lives and teaches them to be responsible. We need to listen to the views of looked after children about what they want to do. We need to plan and put in sufficient resources to provide them with the opportunities they need to flourish.
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