[STUDENT]
[PROFESSOR]
Introduction
It is a fact of common sense that sports play a vital role in the development of children, teenagers, and youth. Numerous researches have been done by psychologists and sociologists on the subject and they found out that sports has a positive impact on the growth and development of children as well as young adults (Côté, J., & Fraser-Thomas, J., 2011). Sports not only improve the overall health and activity level of children, but it can improve the academic performance of students. The psychological benefits of sports played by children include self-respect, appropriate behavior, active participation in academic activities, less stressed, and overall happy and healthy individuals. However, the effectiveness of sports is not limited to the years of childhood, as a physically active and enthusiastic child mostly develops into a psychologically and physiologically strong member of the society.
5 C’s of a Child and Playing Sports
In measuring the benefits of sports played as a child, many researches make use of five “C’s” that stand for the variables in an individual’s personality. These C’s include; Competence, Confidence, Connections (social), Character, and Caring, which are an essential part of a child and young person’s development (Fraser-Thomas, J., Strachan, L., & Jeffery-Tosoni, S., 2013). Competence is boosted by playing competitive sports where the results are measured and matter to the final position of the contributing child. Confidence is a great benefit of sports and should not be underestimated as the implications of confidence in an individual’s life are wide and real. For instance, an active sports player faces team members and coaches regularly, and even audience during the sports competitions, which boosts their confidence to face people without shaking and trembling during class presentations. Connections and social network of a child improves when he plays sports as there are teams, leagues, and many other individuals involved. For this very reason, sportsmen are not known to be lonely in terms of their sociability. Character of an individual is impacted positively as sports enhance one’s control over his/her actions and words. Moreover, the decision-making ability of a child also sharpens when he/she plays on a regular basis. The fifth and last C stands for caring, which is promoted while a child plays various sports such as when a team member falls down during running, other children are encourage to help the fallen kid.
Life Improving Skills
Many other life-improving skills improve in a kid while playing different sports such as time management, enhanced learning skills, target setting, and ethical code of conduct. Kids active in sports enjoy their lives. Another important benefit of playing sports includes better and positive relationships of kids with adults such as parents and teachers.
Social Skills
Those children who do not play and stay more at home are anticipated to misbehave when outside their homes as they do not have enough social exposure to acquire the knowledge of manners and etiquettes of behaving appropriately with others. Another great benefit of playing sports during childhood years is the sense of choosing between right and wrong actions and people as children get opportunity to socialize with other people while playing outdoor games. Sports playing also improves the mood of children as they are energized and feel accomplished.
Conclusion
Researches indicate that those kids who play sports on regular basis are able to resolve their issues and conflicts more easily than the other peers and fellows. In a nutshell, a habit of playing sports on regular basis helps children improve the way they live their future as well as present lives.
REFERENCES
Côté, J., & Fraser-Thomas, J. (2011). Youth involvement and positive development in sport. In P.R.E. Crocker (Ed.). Sport psychology: A Canadian perspective, (2nd edition) (pp.226-255). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Fraser-Thomas, J., Strachan, L., & Jeffery-Tosoni, S. (2013). Family influence on children's involvement in sport. In J. Côté & R. Lidor (Eds.),Conditions of Children’s Talent Development in Sport (pp. 179-196).Morgantown: Fitness Information Technology.
