When I think back to my childhood summers, I remember freedom — long, sunny days at our family’s summer house. We played with cousins, invented our own games, and swam until we were wrinkled and happy. On rainy days, we curled up with books and let our imaginations run wild. Our grandmother took care of us, made simple meals, and watched over us by the water like a lifeguard. In the evenings, our parents came home from work. No one rushed us, no one overscheduled us.
Looking back, I think the adults around us understood something important — maybe not in scientific terms, but in their hearts: children need real rest. They knew, somehow, that our brains needed slow time to grow.
Today, science confirms what they seemed to know instinctively. A child’s brain develops gradually, starting before birth and continuing into early adulthood. While much of the structure is in place by adolescence, full brain maturity — especially in the areas that handle decision-making, emotional regulation, and complex thinking — doesn’t happen until around age 25. Even beyond that, our brains continue to change through learning and life experience.
But what happens when a child’s world is filled with constant noise, endless stimulation, and very little time to simply be?
In my childhood, we didn’t have labels for attention issues, and medications for restlessness weren’t common. We didn’t talk about childhood depression or burnout. Life moved more slowly, and childhood had more space. Now, children live in a world of buzzing phones, video games, social media, extracurriculars, and constant pressure to perform. Are we, without realizing it, transferring our adult pace onto our kids?
Some countries have started banning smartphones in schools, concerned that students can’t concentrate, can’t interact face to face, and are struggling with mental health. Teachers and parents alike see the effects: children who are anxious, withdrawn, or overwhelmed. Their developing brains are overloaded.
That’s why we need to protect time — unstructured, unscheduled, slow time — for our children. We need to make space for boredom, imagination, and rest. We need to support their emotional and social development, not just their academic and athletic performance. Not every hour needs to be filled with homework, clubs, or screens.
We’ve seen what helps children grow into well-adjusted, capable adults: time, safety, connection, and space to play and reflect. These ingredients haven’t changed — but the environment has. If we want today’s children to grow up healthy in body and mind, we need to give them what their brains truly need.
A real summer vacation might be a good place to start.
Source: Rossi, Maarit. “Why a Child’s Brain Needs a Summer Vacation” FESIN Special Edition, 2025.
