How Family Life May Influence Dependent Childrens Opportunities to Develop Their Sporting Potential - Essay Example

It is part of common knowledge that a child starts his initial stage of learning in his family. A dependent child lacks healthy family backgrounds and natural surroundings that facilitate gradual development in various skills. The feeling of surety and care helps the child to generate the status of mental and physical fitness. Dependent children are prevented from experiencing love, protection, tenderness, cooperation, and self-respect. It results in severe developmental problems for those children.

Both mental and physical fitness is essential for the structured development of sporting potential. The life of a dependent child arises some questions about the process of natural growth having care, encouragement, and motivation. Even though parents may feel initially it is good to be needed, then this can change into an exhausting way. A child’s dependent status is always based on his own decisions and the chance of revision and modification is impossible. “A dependent child is vulnerable to exploitation and revictimization because he/she tends to attach to anyone who he/she feels attends to their physical or emotional needs” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Urquiza & Winn, 1994).

A dependent child faces his life not very seriously. . good structure of communication between the athletes and these families during games and education of the families on how to be a resource for the athletes helped athletes to enjoy their family’s support (Jowett, S., Lavallee, D. & Lavallee, D. 2007, p. 239). Noemie P. Beaulieu makes relevant studies in the field of development problems among dependent children. The author argues that dependent children are often subjected to less sporting potential and are less likely to engage in organized sports activities.

The author observes; “This condition makes field-dependent children have a less positive experience in learning new sports skills for which they are usually unaware of the inherent relationship at the beginning stage of learning” (Beaulieu, 2008, p. 173). Consequently, these children have faced various problems in various fields such as less capacity for sports skills, low-level physical fitness, and poor confidence level. Psychological theories like social learning theory and cognitive theory highlight the process of behavior formation of a child through imitation and continuous observation.

Family life and experiences have a significant role in providing opportunities for young children to develop sporting spirits. “Sport can contribute significantly to international, national and local efforts to give children a healthy start” (Sport for children and youth, n. d. p.80). The family atmosphere of a child provides motivation and encouragement for children in practicing various activities. In the case of a dependent child, it is clear that he lacks the care and attention of his real parents. Here, his life lacks encouragement and frequent emotional support. It affects the development of his sporting potential.