Adults Aren't the Only Ones Overworked

Feeling tired is not just a problem for adults but also a common complaint among children who feel exhausted by the burden of homework and extracurricular studies, a new report has found.

The survey, released last week by market research company Horizonkey, said 52 percent of children under the age of 12 attend extracurricular classes on the weekends.

A typical weekend schedule for some kids might include piano and painting lessons on Saturday and Sunday morning, followed by an extracurricular English class and Chinese calligraphy in the afternoon.

The survey included more than 1,400 families with children aged four to 12 in eight cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi'an.

Zhang Hui, a researcher with Horizenkey, said: "Slightly older children tend to be the busiest as their parents are eager to cram more knowledge into them in the hope they will be accepted at a good middle school."

The survey found that about 62 percent of children aged 10-12 took additional classes, such as English, math, music, art, dance and martial arts. However, only 10 percent of the children said they enjoyed the extra lessons, it said.