What will happen if our children do not get the opportunity to play as a team supported by the school system?
Statistics gathered by the Center for Kids show that 30 to 40 million school kids take part in sporting activities a year. This shows play time is a vital part of school curriculums—more so for kids that are in a critical growth stage. Let’s look at some of the benefits of sports in school to highlight their importance.
What are the Benefits of Sports in School?
Everyone agrees that play is important for kids, but a debate comes up when you discuss if play should be part of the learning process. These are some of the benefits that sports can offer to students while they’re in school.
- Self-esteem and confidence – One of the most effective ways of improving a child’s self-esteem and confidence is through play. Students who engage in sports are better at expressing themselves and being receptive to those around them.
- A worthy distraction – When students reach their teenage years, with increasing exposure to technology, they are easily exposed to negative influences. Engaging in sports helps to distract them from this and avoid this negative influence.
- Health benefits – Sporting activities help to keep students healthy and avoid issues such as obesity.
- Social skills – Sports are one of the most effective ways of helping students build their social skills. The soft skills that are necessary for life are easily learned through sporting activities.
Why Should We Keep Sports in School?
As we have seen, there are many benefits to having sports as part of the curriculum at school. The following are some of the reasons why sports are important for students.
- Help with learning – Many of the concepts that students learn in class, such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking are better understood by students when they engage in sports. Students are faced with challenges that require them to put these concepts into practice.
- Helps students build relationships – Through sporting activities, students can create healthy relationships, be they academic or team related. These relationships help the student grow and create a supportive environment around him or her.
- Use of utilities – Sporting activities allow for the use of available sporting facilities. Whether the school owns these facilities or it’s a private complex, sports prevent these resources from being wasted.
- Good use of time – Sporting activities allow students to make good use of their time. Existing risk factors, such as cyberbullying and drug abuse, are curtailed by indulging in sporting activities. Such concentration on sporting activities also helps in the managing of other social problems that face school-aged kids, such as child trafficking.
Final Thoughts
Sports are important in education. From the positive effect that they have in the development of a student’s mindset and social skills, to their health, it is evident that sports need to be part of a school’s activities.
Keeping sports in schools is one way to ensure students of all sociographic backgrounds are exposed to athletics and have the opportunity to reap these benefits.
