How sports affect children in a positive way - Research Paper Example

How sports affect children in a positive way? To make the man perceive and understand true value of positive aspect, God has created negative of everything e.g. good against evil, cold against hot, right against wrong, strong against weak. “G. W. F. Hegel: Lectures on the History of Philosophy.”[1], on the subject of “POSITIVE ASPECT” quoted Robinet: “The result of his observation is that good and evil balance each other; this equilibrium constitutes the beauty of the world.... it also hints at the deeper idea that there is no activity except through contradiction.”[2] When a man perceives the positive aspect, it brings hope, satisfaction and happiness. Perception of negative aspects produces doubt, despondency and unhappiness. A young human being below the age of full physical development is generally termed as “child”. If we carefully study and experience a child, we find that there are many characteristics and attributes which are naturally attached to the child behavior. It could be defiant, stubborn, hyperactive, short tempered, rude, disrespectful, liar, demanding, violent, lazy, or coward. It is not necessary that a child has all these negative attributes, but what ever he has, it is his inheritance. This inheritance depends on many factors. The parent from whom he is born, the environment in which he is brought up, the education he receives, the family, economic, social and religious conditions in which he grows. All these are the factors that are built into a child’s psyche and character. Every child therefore is an individual of its kind. U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in Article 29 states “the education of the child shall be directed to (a) the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;”[3] These clauses indirectly put responsibility on a State to promote sports for children because it is only through Sport that a child can have access and opportunity to understand, practice and build all these qualities. Any activity by a human being which requires physical exertion or skill and competition is usually identified as “sport”. It generates interest and enthusiasm in the person who does such activities. Even children with disabilities are encouraged to play sports. Sport is one thing that is not influenced by the character and individuality of a child. In fact, it is the children which are affected and influenced most by the sport. It is one of the most important things in recent times as Sports have changed in the children, their negative psyche in to the positive individuality. Many researches and studies have been conducted on the child psychology. It is now universally accepted that one of the most important things that can create positive attributes in a child is sport. We can find all over the world that sports facilities are always there in schools, whether they are kids’ schools, primary schools or secondary schools, public or private schools. Better the sport facilities at school, higher is its reputation and prestige. “For many years the United Nations system has acknowledged the importance of sports in society. United Nations bodies have enlisted star athletes and major sporting events in campaigns to promote immunization against childhood diseases and other public health measures, to support the fight against racism and apartheid, and to promote human rights” This self explanatory message is given on “UN Enable - United Nations, Sports and the Paralympic Games” [4] There are three main elements which can help a sport to leave a positive effect on the children. First element is the kind of sport a child is playing. Second element is the accompanying children or friends with which a child is playing the sport. Third element is the teacher, coach or parent who is teaching, coaching or observing the child while he is playing the sport. All these three elements have a joint effect on the child. Let us discuss importance of each one of these elements and the role it plays in developing the positive effect on the child. The first thing is sport. Today there are so many sports. Walking, jogging, cycling, racing, jumping, skipping, exercising, aerobatics, swimming, football, basket ball, soccer, hand ball, hockey, cricket, horse racing, shooting and what not. Selection of the right sport is some thing very important. The selection of the sport for a child should be based on his economic resources, culture and environment. Wrong sport selection will seldom have any positive effect on the child. If the father of a child is a jockey and the place around his home is a stable, the child will naturally learn horse riding. However, if the father is a business man leaving in a modern city with no experience of horse riding, it will be very difficult and inappropriate to encourage or force a child to learn horse riding. There are some sports which are easy, economical and effective. Very little or no money is needed to practice it. They are helpful and healthy as well for human body. These are skipping, jogging, racing and walking. When skipping is done, it moves all the organs of body. Hands, legs, face, stomach and head, everything from top to bottom jerks and jumps circulating blood and exercising muscles. This exercising of muscles makes the body strong and healthy. Similarly, jogging, racing and walking are very effective and efficient sport for all. The most important thing about sport is the amount of time spent on it and how frequently it is done. Regularity is the key for success. Any sport that is selected should be played on regular basis with appropriate timings. Too much activity might result in injury or pain and therefore it is important to take note of the time a child spends on the sport. “Sport can be used for different development goals, for instance: to overcome trauma, to improve health, to promote gender equality, to educate about HIV/AIDS and to support efforts aimed at peace building and reconciliation.” Stated by Toolkit sport for development- a website produced by and for NGOs, sports clubs and governments. [5] The second element is accompanying children or friends. They give a child, the first and foremost experience about the social life. How people live together in one environment, what is a group work and how a team can be built to achieve a common goal. The competition to excel brings the best out of him. The support and joint work creates the ability of understanding how sharing and helping others can bring common benefits. The concept of following team captain commands creates awareness about obedience of elders and social leaders. The uniform and well matched dress of the team teaches importance of discipline. Whistling on fouls highlights the concept of punishment for wrong doings. In a game of sport, one side wins and the other side looses. When such an event is experienced, it has its own impact. Pride and humility is inculcated when win and success is achieved. Strength to face difficulty and tolerate pain is produced when a game is lost. It is, however, very important that the parent should know the types of children who are accompanying their child while playing. Good company will leave good effect and bad company will leave many questions and influences in the mind. It is therefore very important that the parent is aware of the situation and educate their child accordingly. Third element is the quality of teacher, coach or parent who is watching the child playing the sport. The training given by the coach or teacher has a great influence on the mind of the child. A coach or teacher at sports is like an idol to which children curiously follow. Ethical values such as discipline, unity, faith, acceptance of mistakes and its remedy, generosity, kindness, politeness, forgiveness and tolerance surface up in activities of sport. They may come up one at a time or many of it simultaneously. It is up to the coach or the teacher to identify and emphasis these values to the children, make them understand and recognize it and show them how to practice it and use it as and when situation demands. The most important positive thing that a sport can bring into a child is ethical values. This outstanding and universal feature of sport must be promoted every time, every where and to every body in each and every sport that is played today! Training given by coach builds the skills in the child. If a child is talented and keen then he soon becomes skillful and competent. These skills and competencies develop as he grows and if he continues with it, he may one day becomes one of the most paid and renowned sportsman of the world. So sports give the opportunity to climb and go as higher as possible by putting efforts and endeavor with little luck. When sports are watched on television programs, recorded or live, it creates immense interest, enthusiasm and zeal to replicate it at home. Children should be well monitored and advised to watch only those sports that are suitable for their age and body. They should be discouraged to watch all such adult sports that bring violence and fight in the limelight such as wrestling of World Wrestling Federation, Judo from Japanese art and Karate from Korean art. To bring positive change in a child, the parent must keep him involved in sport. It can be concluded emphatically that the sport affects the child definitely positively. The influence on the mind of the child is undeniably high. The positive effects that can come up in a child on the account of sport are summarized as follows:- Gets healthy, active and intelligent. Becomes respectful, disciplined and well mannered. Gets ready to participate in social activities Share, discuss and watch sports bringing family relationship closer Motivated to live a healthy and nutritious lifestyle Builds skills and competencies Brings his best due to participation in competition Make friends and social contacts Boost confidence and self esteem Learns ethical values and its practice Fight against diseases and disabilities All the above positive aspects leave only one choice for the parent; always encourage children to take part in sports and try best to accompany them where it is possible. This will bring satisfaction, happiness and hope! Works Cited [1] G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831), Hegel - History of Philosophy, http://www.class.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/hegel310.htm, “2-POSITIVE ASPECT” Available: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/texts/Hegel%20- %20Hist%20Phil/French%20-%20positive.htm, [05-MAY-2011] [2] Robinet: De la Nature, T.I.P.I. chap. xxviii. p. 138; chap. xiii. p. 70. [3] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. OHCHR, Copyright OHCHR 1996-2007, Convention of the Rights of the Child, Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm [05-MAY-2011] [4] UN Enable - United Nations, Sports and the Paralympic Games, Copyright United Nations 2008-2010, UN Enable - United Nations, Sports and the Paralympic Games, Available: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1418 [05-MAY-2011] [5] Toolkit sport for development, Copyright 2008, Toolkit sport for development, Available: http://www.toolkitsportdevelopment.org/. [05-MAY-2011] Read More