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faced with unoccupied hours, jud–
ging from the increase in free-time
phobia. Dr. William Flynn, a
Georgetown University psychiatrist,
sees such symptoms in sorne of his
patients. He calls it the "Thank–
God-it's-Monday" sickness. Many
people affiicted with TG IM become
more depressed on weekends and
can'{ wait for Monday to roll
around. Sorne TGIMers know
they're supposed to be having fun ,
so they overdo
it
by playing too
hard . They' re unable to relax, and
soon their recreation becomes just
another weekend job.
Lelsure Time Problem
Why can't people enjoy their leisure
without suffering such psychological
hang-ups? Max Gunther, author of
The Weekenders,
explains why:
"Nearly all people in our society
need work to hang their lives upon.
Sorne need it so badly that when
work is snatched away their lives
start to disintegrate."
Le isure time is already such a
problem, adds sociologist Lorenz
Stucki, tha t whole organizations
concern themselves with occupa–
tional therapy to fil l in such free–
doro. Expressed more brutally,
leisure time must somehow-any–
how- be killed.
Despite its vaunted j et-set values
our modern age betrays a lack of
sophist ication when it comes to han–
dling leisure creatively. Though in–
creasing affiuence, mobil ity, and a
pell-mell pursuit of "the good life"
have provided us with an a rray of
options, we have failed to dislodge a
deep-rooted distrust of unoccupied
time.
"A guilt complex will inevita bly
cramp our style for enjoying lei–
sure," writes Leslie Dowling, "if we
have a feeling we are wasting our
time, if not actually committing a
sin by not being gainfully and seri–
ously occupied."
Thus, " the great emptiness," as
one sociologist characterizes this
fear of free time, threatens to de–
plete our energies and jeopardize
our enjoyment of leisure. Because
more .leisure looms on the horizon,
the crisis is bound to intensify. Look
at what's happened to our work–
week, for example. In 1850, when
America was still an agrarian so-
30
ciety, people worked about 70 hours
a week; by 1900 they were working
60 hours. Forty years later the work–
week was trimmed to 44 hours, and
by 1950 the 40-hour, five-day sched–
ule was standard . Today, Americans
work a 35- to 38-hour workweek,
but that's only part of the pic–
ture.
Bold new experiments with the
four-day week, the three-day week,
and fiexitime schedules (flexible
working hours) have increased
available leisure for workers. A few
years ago one sociologist es timated
that Americans enjoyed sorne 3,700
hours off the job each year. That
comes to over 230 full days of 16
hours each. What's more, the trend
toward more free time will continue.
Max Kaplan, a member of the
UNESCO Commission on Leisure
and Education, predicts that our
children will be working half-days
or hal f-weeks for only ha lf of their
Lives.
Psychologlcal Consequences
What further dislocations might this
create? Dr. Lawrence C. Hartlage, a
faculty member of the Georgia
Medica! School, expresses alarm.
"The implications of increasing lei–
sure time in a count ry still st rongly
rooted in a work ethic can be of
serious psychological consequence
for such variables as self-concept,
self-esteem and related measures of
worth which people have tradition–
ally derived from their work."
Boredom is one by-product of
abundant free time. Boredom, in
turn, can breed antisocial behavior–
crime, drug abuse, sexual excesses
and other social ills. Not even the
famous escape its corrosive effects.
When suave, man-of-the-world
screen ido! George Sanders took his
life in 197 1, he left this note: "1
commit suicide beca use 1 am bored
and because
1
have already lived
enough." Sanders, 65 and in good
health, sti ll had a promising movie
career going for him.
A classic case of boredom-in–
duced violence can be seen in
Stanley Kubrick's fi lm
A Clockwork
Orange.
T.hrough his pointless vi–
ciousness Alex displays what Ka n–
sas psychologist Mayna rd Shelly
calls "random warrior" behavior.
Kubrick's anti-hero slaughters his
victims sadistically as he seeks es–
cape from boredom. Most of us,
horrified at such a solut ion for re–
leasing pent-up emotions, don't kili
people but do kili plenty of time. In
so doing, our ability to use leisure in
fulfilling ways declines, leaving us at
the merey of every fad a nd frivolity
modern hucksters toss our way.
"The American, like nature, ab–
hors a vacuum," writes Norman
Lobsenz in
l s
Anybody Happy?
"As
a result, he is increasingly engaged
in an heroic etfort to fill it. And
filling it he is. More people a re in–
dulging in more activities, going
more places, and spending more
money buying things than ever be–
fore. The trouble is tha t only an
infinitesimal fraction of this frene–
ticism equals fun. Behind the masks
of gaiety hides a growing incapacity
for true pleasure."
Educatlon for Lelsure
Warnings about the dangers of mis–
used leisure time are hardly new.
"The possession of surplus free
time, in the use ofwhich one has not
been tra ined, is more dangerous
than surplus money under the same
circumstances." wrote George Cut–
len over 50 years ago.
One reason why leisure has be–
come such a problem is that people
have never been taught how to use
it in meaningful ways. Schools have
prepared students for the world of
work but not for the world of lei–
sure. This oversight was not deliber–
ate. In 19 18 the National Education
Association declared " the worthy
use of leisure" to be one of the seven
cardinal principies of education. In
following years the Educational Pol–
icies Commission reaffirmed this ob–
jective, even though nothing more
than üp service has been paid to its
implementation.
Those who favor the concept con–
sider it to be more than just fun and
games. Education for leisure is seen
as a total developmenta l process
through which a person grows into a
better understanding of himself, lei–
sure, and the relationship of leisure
to the rest of life.
Joseph E. Fitzgerald, a consultant
on early childhood and elementary
education for the Florida State Edu–
cation Department, says leisure edu–
cation must be viewed asan integra l
The
PLAIN TRUTH June/July 1978