Implications of Reduced Physical Activity for Children’s/Adolescents Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development
Introduction
The development of a child is quite a complex and delicate process as it must be an all-round process. For a child to develop properly and healthily, their cognitive, social and emotional abilities must be put into consideration. The individual’s physical activity has a great impact on the development of these abilities, directly or indirectly. Physicians advise parents to ensure that their children get adequate exercise as they grow so as to ensure they are active in all dimensions. Unlike access to technology, physical activity is a necessity for child growth as it plays a great role in developing the cognitive, social and emotional abilities of a child.
One of the severe impacts of less physical activity in a child is slow brain development or cognitive abilities. When a child is not exposed to sufficient physical activities, they are not able to develop proper problem solving skills (O'Donnell et al. 2016). Another impact of reduced physical activity is the inability to develop proper social skills (O'Donnell et al. 2016). Proper physical activities are done with other children, outside the home environment. Children usually form groups as they play, enabling them socialize with each other. Children who are confined to the home environment tend to become shy, thus have low social skills (O'Donnell et al. 2016). Also, they may develop anger issues or the inability to handle their emotions well as they assume no one understands them.
Contribution and Discussion
As time progresses, every individual embraces technology, not only as a means of communication, but a source of entertainment as well. Most children evade indulging in physical activities as they fear getting tired (Slee, Campbell, " Spears, 2013). They opt to use technological devices as sources of entertainment and interaction with other children. They are not aware of the dangers of reduced physical activities to their development and as such are not concerned with involving themselves in such. Also, parents nowadays are less concerned with proper growth of their children (Carr, 2013). They leave all tasks to teachers, who end up getting overwhelmed with several children. Even after they reunite with their children at the end of the day, most parents do not follow up with the progress of their children for the day. With the busy schedules of most parents, they are not able to monitor the activities carried out by their children closely. As such, the children end up having reduced hours of physical activities.
Conclusion and Recommendations
As such, teachers and parents need to work hand in hand to ensure that their children receive enough hours of exercises. Since the teachers have experience in child care, they need to advice the parents on what to do, so at bring up a healthy child. First time parents have a difficult time in taking care of their children as they have no prior experience. However, there are institutions that provide such parents with the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure that they have an easy time in bringing up healthy children.
Schools may help increase the physical activity by continuously educating the parents on proper parenting. Also, the teachers must ensure maximum and proper physical activities when the children are in school as they are not able to supervise them while away from school.
Relationship between Biological Development of a Brain and Student Environment
Introduction
The physical, emotional and cognitive development in children is greatly influenced by the environment the child is brought up in. as a child develops, they understand and conceptualize the environment around them bits by bits. As much as the brain is a powerful tool, it is only able to give what is fed to it. Its development is influenced by the environment around it. For example, when a child is brought up in a hostile environment, they get used to violence. On the other hand, when the child is brought up in a calm environment, they adapt peace and harmony as their lifestyle. Enrique et al. (2017) recommend that are brought up in the same environment so as to avoid culture shock and general confusion.
Within the first two years of a child’s life, there is rapid growth of the brain. At this stage, the child is able to idealize and conceptualize the environment around them. Whatever they acquire during these stages of life, sticks with them till adulthood. Jenkins, Ginesi, " Keenan, (2016) recommend that children be kept away from traumatic events as they may scar them for life. As adult, it is quite easy to forget something. Children on the other hand, have very strong memories as their brains are continuously developing. Therefore, it is advisable that they are brought up in safe environments to prevent their brain from developing negative behaviours.
Factors that Promote or Slow Brain Development
There are five main factors that influence the development of the brain, these are genetics, interpersonal relationships, nutrition, mental stimulation and physical activity. The genetic make-up of a child not only influences their physical appearance, but also mental ability. The child will be able to express the parents’ genes. Enrique et al. (2017) claim that the cognitive abilities of a child are mostly inherited from its mother. Nonetheless, its father also plays a crucial role in the genetic make-up. It is almost impossible for slow parents to give birth to a bright child, and vice versa.
The diet of an individual also has an impact in the brain development. There are specific foods known to stimulate the brain where as other are known to stimulate the brain’s activities. Parents must closely monitor the diet of their children and ensure they take foods that stimulate brain activity. Children need to be exposed to activities that stimulate the brain into acting fast. When a child is not exposed to proper mental stimulation, the brain’s development may slow down, making the child become generally slow. The kind of people the child interacts with also influences the development of their brain.
Structuring a Classroom Environment
Teachers must therefore ensure that the classrooms are designed in a way that children are able to interact with each other, so as to promote their social skills, consequently lead to healthy brain development. Also, they need to ensure that the children get the required amount of exercises required for the development of their brain. Issuing the children with random questions is also a good way to help their brains develop well. As such, the teachers must incorporate random quizzes in the schedule to assist the children recall what they have learnt and interacted with, in the classroom environment.
Responsibilities of Teachers and Leaners According to the Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky
Introduction
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two psychologists who studies the development of the brain of a child, basing their speculations on different factors. Piaget used the intelligence factor in his study whereas Vygotsky used the environmental perspective. Piaget’s theory states that the development human development is primarily influenced by the knowledge they acquire over time (Garhart, 2013). Vygotsky’s theory states that children’s development depends with the environment they are brought up in. he claims that the community greatly influences the development of a child (Garhart, 2013). The two theories differ in that, in Piaget’s theory, learning precedes development whereas in Vygotsky’s theory, learning and development are concurrent processes.
Responsibilities of Teachers and Students in the Learning Process
Both teachers and students play a crucial role in instilling knowledge on the students and their proper development. Students should not only acquire knowledge, but know the proper ways in which to acquire the knowledge. As such, they must understand the various forms of development required for a normal adult. They must understand how the various forms of development are actualized (Pellegrini, 2011). For instance, social development may only be actualized using Vygotsky’s theory. It is not possible to learn the social skills on a classroom scale. These are skills that are learnt by interacting with other. Even if one is able to have the knowledge on social skills, they may experience the issue of actualizing their knowledge. As such, the knowledge they acquire is as good as having none. On the other hand, cognitive abilities are best developed using Piaget’s theory, as it is not possible to solve a problem that you do not have prior information about.
Teachers play the most crucial role in the understanding of both theories. The students may not be able to understand fully how these theories are applicable to learning. It is the duty of the teachers to ensure that students are conversant with the different ways of instilling knowledge (Qvortrup, 2016). Also, they must ensure the students know the aspects of life that they need to develop so as to live proper lives. Without their guidance, the students may end up confused as they will not be able to conceptualize every information solely on their own.
Conclusion
Teachers must consider the two theories as they interact with their students. Children acquire some knowledge before they are introduced in the learning environment. As such, they need to make an effort to find out what the children have learnt before they were introduced in the learning environment. They need to implement Piaget’s theory to ensure that children are able to develop their cognitive abilities properly. For social and emotional development, they need to implement Vygotsky’s theory. Social and emotional development would only be effective if the children are exposed to each other’s experiences. It is not possible to learn emotional and social skills before actualizing them. As such, both theories must be considered depending on the ability in question.
References
O'Donnell, A., Youssef-Shalala, A., Smith, J., Reeve, J., Dobozy, E., " Bartlett, B. et al. (2016). Educational Psychology, Australian Edition (2nd ed.). Milton: Wiley.
Carr, A. (2013). What Works with Children and Adolescents?: A Critical Review of Psychological Interventions with Children, Adolescents and Their Families. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Slee, P., Campbell, M., " Spears, B. (2013). Child, Adolescent and Family Development (3rd ed.). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, C., Ginesi, L., " Keenan, B. (2016). Dementia Care at a Glance At a Glance (Nursing and Healthcare) Series. John Wiley and Sons.
Enrique Cadenas., Fei Yin., Jia Yao., " Roberta Diaz Brinton. (2017). The Metabolic-Inflammatory Axis in Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration. Frontiers Media S.A.
Garhart Mooney, C. (2013). Theories of Childhood, Second Edition: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget " Vygotsky. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
Qvortrup, A. (2016). On the Definition of Learning. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.
Pellegrini, A. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play. First Edition. OxfordLibrary of Psychology. Oxford University Press.
