Inactive Lifestyle of Children
In the current era where technology has taken over the different aspects of human life, there has been a paradigm shift relating to the children participation in sports. Children have become used to watching television programs, playing video games and computer games, a practice that has substituted the initially valued children participation in sports. Parents have also considered such modern ways of children leisure and encouraged them, leading to inactivity of children. While such behavior in the home settings have become dominant, the school environments have offered opportunities for children to engage in sports. However, due to the unpopularity of participating in sports at home, children have become averse to sports and the parents have raised their expectation on academic performance of their children, grossly ignoring the potential benefits of sports for school children.
Benefits of Sports in Schools
This paper argues that sports in schools have many benefits for children and parents and teachers have the responsibility of encouraging children to participate in sports, just like they are supposed to put them on toes in academics. The essay begins by outlining the mostly cited arguments against children participation in sports in schools and proceeds to rebuff these counterarguments by presenting the benefits of sports to children in schools. The paper concludes by reinstating the role of sports in promoting the healthy development of children in all spheres of life.
Physical and Mental Benefits of Sports
Sports is often considered as a double edge sword one side it provides tremendous benefits to health, on the other hand, it may cause irreparable damage to health (Rajaraman 932). Schools play a central role in the promotion of sports as extracurricular activities on a regular basis and set the background to quench the thirst of passionate students an opportunity to uplift their proficiency (Rajaraman 933). Psychologist proved that children participating in sports activities regularly entail enhanced intellectual capacity and brain sharpness. Thus, engaging in sports activity in schools help them stay fit physically beside providing the much-needed exercise for the brain.
Negative Effects of Sports
On the other hand, playing sports can have detrimental results on a child's future career. Parents usually complain of their children consuming their time with sports at the expense of their academic work (Darcy, Simon & Leanne Dowse 396). As a result, these children fail to attain a higher level of education. Everyone understands that sports-related injuries are prevalent among players these days. For example, children playing soccer are more vulnerable to muscle injury and brain concussions. However, conservative and surgical treatment can help with muscles strain can be recovered. Unfortunately, many children involved in sports lose their ability to perform other activities of daily living due to coup and countercoup injuries. Hence, sports come with unwelcome effects.
Degradation of Individuality
One of the most cited objections to sports in school for children is that compulsion of children into participating in sports degrades their individuality and serves no intrinsic purpose (Darcy, Simon & Leanne Dowse 398). The argument further maintains that such compulsion damages the dignity and individuality of children through the designated team activities.
Danger of Extreme Competition
Another reason advanced by the opponents of sports in schools is that it encourages competition among children that is dangerous if pursued with extremity. The spirit of competition is challenged as not being the nature of humans and can lead to disastrous endings if the inculcated in the children without moderation (Darcy, Simon & Leanne Dowse 403). Competition creates anxiety and undermines essential human qualities such as loving and supportive relationships, empathy, perseverance, and excellence.
Friendship and Teamwork
Participating in sports in schools enable children to make friends. Playing sports in high school is probably the easiest way to make friends (Holt et al. 495). Even if a child does not play the sport before his or her joining the school, learning to play sports enables the child to practice with the teammates and facilitates interaction and making of friends as one develops a strong bond with the teammates.
Development of Skills and Qualities
Sports in school enable children to develop qualities and skills such as team spirit, leadership, visualizing, planning, spirit of healthy competition, respect for opponents, not giving up after losing, ability to laugh off own mistakes & practical intelligence get developed through sports, apart from other benefits (Eime et al. 98).
Physical Fitness and Healthy Lifestyle
Another important benefit of engaging in sports in school is that it enables the child to be physically fit. Taking part in high school sport forces the child into becoming active. Sports expose children to the right kind of peer pressure (most of the time), and the teammates and coach push the child to their limits. Besides, playing sports in helps children develop healthy lifestyle behaviors (Holt et al. 491).
Time Management and Life Skills
Engaging in sporting activities in school teaches children of one of the vital life skills-time management. As children have to balance between time for classwork and assignments and sports competition, they learn to manage their time by prioritizing activities and managing the tight schedule (Eime et al. 98). While it is imperative that children focus on their academics when at school, engaging in sports teaches other equally beneficial skills such as perseverance, teamwork, sacrifice, and so many other things that will make you more well-rounded and successful in the future.
Discovering Talents and Opportunities
Engaging in sports activities in school is an essential way for children to learn of their talents that they may utilize later in life. There is a higher potential for students who pursue sports in high school to be granted scholarships to study in great universities that encourage such sports in their systems (Eime et al. 98). Furthermore, in school, children can early discover their talents, and the exposure through different competitions can only serve to increase their chances of pursuing their professional careers.
Learning to Work in a Team
Being able to work in a team and work with others is an important skill for later life, and you learn this very well in team sports. Without the other team members, a child cannot get anything done in any given sport he or she is participating in. This fact makes children learn to work with others and gets to understand the importance of trusting their teammates to do their job (Holt et al. 490). These can be some pretty abstract concepts for young kids. But, learning these skills is beneficial to later life and learning them now really develops them and prepares them better for college and the workplace.
Importance of Exercise for Children
Exercise is important to all humans, but it is especially important for kids (Holt et al. 492). They have a lot of energy and being able to get that out during team sports is great. They should come home feeling tired. Besides, engaging in sports involves regular exercising and teaches the children the importance of doing exercises in their later stages of life and promotes their healthy. Team sports can be beneficial to kids and give them the skills needed for later in life. It keeps them active and lets them meet new people. All in all, team sports are an important part of child development.
Mental and Physical Growth
Engaging in physical activities in general and sports, in particular, helps stimulate the mental and physical growth of children and is not only limited to helping children keep fit but is important to their academic process as well (Holt et al. 496). In addition, sports activities help children develop and maintain strength and energy which is useful in improving physical fitness and blood circulation. As a result, it leads to mental stability and academic sharpness of children.
Importance of Sports for Children's Growth
Parents and teachers should not be too obsessed with exams and marks that they forget the obvious benefits of sports in schools for their children. They should have patience & allow the children to grow at their unique pace in life. Sports and co-curricular activities are an essential part of children’s growth. Non-participant children will remain deficient in the qualities discussed. Moreover, the additional time devoted to academics is unlikely to result in producing academic brilliance, but only unhappy, unfit & unenthusiastic children with low self-confidence.
Works Cited
Darcy, Simon, and Leanne Dowse. "In search of a level playing field–the constraints and benefits of sport participation for people with intellectual disability." Disability & Society 28.3 (2013): 393-407.
Eime, Rochelle M., et al. "A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents: informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport." International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 10.1 (2013): 98.
Holt, Nicholas L., et al. "Benefits and challenges associated with sport participation by children and parents from low-income families." Psychology of sport and exercise 12.5 (2011): 490-499.
Rajaraman, Divya, et al. "Perceived benefits, facilitators, disadvantages, and barriers for physical activity amongst South Asian adolescents in India and Canada." Journal of physical activity and health 12.7 (2015): 931-941.
