School for most southwest Minnesota students will be ending soon and a lot of youths will have extra time on their hands for a few months. Unfortunately, many youths will fill that extra time with screen activities — TV shows and social media outlets.

While we are not advocating against social media time — some of it is educational — we know too much of it can be harmful. Health News reported back in 2022 that new research confirmed the dangers of too much screen time for kids and teens.

“Screen time, where you are sitting and watching TV or playing computer games or scrolling social media for hours on end, is so detrimental because it’s sedentary and usually not engaging,” said study author Rosa Virgara, a research associate at the University of South Australia.

The research in the study claims youths do better when playing sports, take music lessons or just socializing with friends. They are happier than children who are glued to a screen for hours.

Which leads us to the Summer 2024 catalogue put out by Marshall Community Services.

The catalogue is full of summer activities such as summer hockey, cheerleading gymnastics, golf, basketball, etc. There are 40 pages of activities.

And there’s alternatives to sports activities. Inside the catalogue we found art-related camp and classes. There is also baking activities, movie making, wood carving — even welding.

According to an introduction signed by Marshall Community Services staff, “summer is a great time to check out newly opened facilities completed last year, including a new 18-hole disc golf course at Independence Park.”

If your kids start complaining they have nothing to do, we suggest you log onto https://bit.ly/marshallregistration

Get your kids involved in something fun this summer.