After writing about the scourge of over-scheduling and the trend of busy-ness for children today, I thought I'd write the PROS of enrichment activities, such as organized sports.
- Kids who find a hobby that holds their interest will stay on track and focused.
- Introducing numerous subjects allows a child to see the breadth of life and all that's available to him.
- Children who learn to make good choices early on will most likely avoid drugs, gangs, crime, school failure, and negative influences.
Sports encourages a child to eat healthy and exercise, as well as the value of team effort. - Doing things that involve some degree of "losing" help prepare a child for failure in reasonable doses
- There's nothing worse than being a big fish in a small pond, only to find out that you are a very small fish when held against the normal (average) standards - teams and groups teach this.
- Commitment...showing up when you don't feel like it is part of joining and following through.
- Groups (and teams) work towards a common goal, requiring self-sacrifice, a rare virtue in our Western world but highly valued in the rest of the globe.
- Compared to other cultures, our children are couch-potatoes. Most industrialized countries work earlier, study longer hours, and test considerably higher in math and sciences. By high school, about 50% of American students are testing at sub-standard levels. Asian cultures employ tutors early on and require a musical instrument as a weekly extra-curricular activity.
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