How Can Sports Help Kids - Research Paper Example

 How Can Sports Help Kids? Children of this modern age have been reported to be unhealthy and inactive, and this has raised a lot of questions to whether their parents or teachers are to blame. Sports are an extreme, significant feature in the development of children of all ages. Majority of the children in the age bracket of 5-16 years involve themselves in various sport activities such as basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball. I think basketball is the leading form of sport in which a substantial percentage of children have involved themselves. Not all sporting activities are beneficial to children, only organized sporting activities. Organized sporting activities help children feel satisfied and have a sense of achievement. It builds a spirit of teamwork and leadership in the children. Parents should not restrict their children from engaging in physical activities if they want their children to be exemplary leaders. However, sporting activities have been declining in the past years because of technological advancements with boys being the most affected (Active community guide, 2002). Children have just playing computer and video games instead of physical activities. Girls are the greatest benefiters of sporting activities as they take sports more seriously than boys. Warren Clark, 2008. Canadian Social Trends: Kids’ sports, Statistics Canada. Sports permit kids to develop teamwork, competition, leadership and communication skills. These aspects are particularly relevant in growing children. We need to instill these in all children and prepare them as future leaders. Sports also assist in improvement of health of children and reduce future health related problems. In terms of health, it helps build healthy bones in children and enhances fitness. Games also endorse good posture and reinforce the heart. The kids involved in sports are more relaxed than their lazy partners, and this in general boosts proper growth and maturity. I think both the family and the instructors participate significantly in the development of kids through sports. As we all know, children learn through play it helps them learn about the societal context. As children involve themselves in sports and various games, they learn how to solve problems and help themselves. Their mind is developed, and they understand more easily on what they are being taught. Active community guide, 2002. Active kids, NSW Department of Sport and Recreation Sports help the children expand on their physical skills which are learnt as they find out how to climb and handle their toys. Parents should ensure that they have spent considerable time with their children so that the children will feel motivated. They need to be offering emotional support and rewarding them even when they fail. This will motivate them as they build skills. A parent should also not force their child to involve in a sport that they do not like. They should be allowed to make their own decisions at an early age. Sports as well help children enhance cognitive aspects such as solving problems and also improve their attention duration (Pivarnik and Pfeiffer, 2002). This not only helps the kid but also benefits the community as a whole. They gain the ability to do their homework without a lot of help and do their own things like finding socks, bathing themselves and making their beds. Through sporting activities, children learn imperative language skills. As a child plays with other children, the interaction allows them to develop their language in terms of speaking and writing. Some games such as debates and telling jokes are an unusually vital way of improving language skills. Luepker, R.V. 1999. How physically active are American children and what can we do about it? Int. J. Obes. 23 (Suppl. 2): S12-S17. Children nowadays are becoming overweight because they just sit in front of televisions and computer instead of participating in active games (Luepker, 1999). Some schools have also put down regulations in connection with sports so that all the children engage in sports. Games help the children who are obese to reduce their weight and health related risks such as heart complications and high blood pressure. Sports also improve the self esteem of the children and build a suitable behavior that is acceptable in the society. When they grow, they will have proper personality that will assist them succeed in life. Most of the disturbed kids have low self esteem. Sporting activities in the family context is the foremost step to improving their self esteem. Kids who participate in games are free of depression and worry because they are social. Kids who engage themselves in sporting activities are more social and make more friends. Their degree of interaction is quite high as compared to those who are not occupied in sports. This not only profits the child but also is beneficial to the community at large. These forms of interactions assist them to enhance the social and economic aspects in the community. Children will not have time to engage themselves in activities that endanger them such as violence and drugs. This is because they are not idle. Gilligan, K., 2007. How sports can help develop life skills in children, helium Inc. We should encourage children to participate in sports so that we will be competent to get rid of racial prejudice. A sport does not choose races because all people are equal when a game is progressing. We also find out that the race we discriminate against is the one that is always winning. Therefore, games get rid of ethnical barriers, and this leads to healthy competition. Sports also help in the development of appropriate sportsmanship in children. Sportsmanship is the performance and character that indicate respect for the game and team mates. It is highly relevant as children grow to be respectful of others and those in power. It makes them be committed and hardworking which are incredibly good values for success. As a result of these gaming activities, children become outstanding leaders and appear to be more mature in class than those who do not engage themselves in games. These kids also show more interest in their schoolwork and are more participatory in class (Coe DP, et. al., 2006). If you want your child to succeed, they have to be active and more flexible. Sports are also closely connected to healthy eating. Children should feed on healthy foodstuffs that will enable them be able to participate in sports. Fogelholm, M., O. Nuutinen, M. Pasanen, et al. 1999. Parent-child relationship of physical activity patterns and obesity. Int. J. Obes. 23: 1262-1268. Parents, therefore, play a crucial part when it comes to their children’s sports needs. They should consider giving them positive support and should not compare them with other kids. If one’s kid is not good at athletics, he/she should not force them. They should in turn help them develop their abilities and talents. Kids learn more through observations and their parents should be a good example to them. Sports can be bound to teams or individuals. Children do not have to engage themselves in team sports such as soccer for them to develop; individual sports are also hugely beneficial. Sports such as swimming and skiing are individual sports, and many people have succeeded in the same. In my own view, individual sports are more influential than team sports as it shows the commitment level of the child. The children create time to engage in their favorite sport. They train themselves, and this raises the level of maturity in those children. Sports provide an opportunity for a child to learn a sport and further develop it beyond what the coach teaches. It helps children get away from indoors and video games which have a negative influence towards the child’s behavior. References Active community guide, 2002. Active kids, NSW Department of Sport and Recreation. Retrieved on 5th March 2012 from: Coe DP, et. al. 2006. Effect of physical education and activity levels on academic achievement in children. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Vol 38. Fogelholm, M., O. Nuutinen, M. Pasanen, et al. 1999. Parent-child relationship of physical activity patterns and obesity. Int. J. Obes. 23: 1262-1268. Gilligan, K., 2007. How sports can help develop life skills in children, helium Inc. Retrieved on 5th March 2012 from: Engle, M., Sports and kids: Pathway to healthy development or to unhealthy competition? NYU Child Study Center, New York. Retrieved on 5th March 2012 from: Harper, C., 2005. Children and Sports. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. No. 61: New York. Luepker, R.V. 1999. How physically active are American children and what can we do about it? Int. J. Obes. 23 (Suppl. 2): S12-S17. Pivarnik J. and Pfeiffer, K., 2002. The Importance of Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents. Michigan Fitness Foundation. Retrieved on 5th March 2012 from: Telama, R., and X. Yang. 1997. Physical activity in childhood and adolescence as predictor of physical activity in young adulthood. Am. J. Prev. Med. 13: 317-323. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. Healthy People 2010, 2nd ed. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Warren Clark, 2008. Canadian Social Trends: Kids’ sports, Statistics Canada. Retrieved on 5th March 2012 from: Read More