Importance of Sports

480 Words2 Pages
Why is it important to practise sport? Sport is important for adults for obvious reasons while the motivations as to why children should practice sport are often less obvious: we will examine a number of reasons below. Whatever type of sport your child may do, it allows him to perform a basic physical activity which nowadays is hindered due to general lifestyle changes: up until a few decades ago it was commonplace for children to spend a few hours outside everyday in the fresh air, playing in the street or garden. These activities were not considered as sports in the strictest sense of the word but allowed children to socialise and experiment with new abilities. This tendency has now become a thing of the past and a sedentary lifestyle is now widely accepted as the norm (except in a limited number of cases of children living in non-urban areas): this pattern normally continues throughout an individual's lifetime and leads to a number of problems including obesity. Sports encourage the development of social skills. For some children, frequenting a gym provides them with the only opportunity to meet other people of the same age outside of school. This situation was extremely rare up until recently but is now becoming standard practice. This type of environment allows children to meet new friends and helps them learn how to relate to others, whether it is with a team mate or even an opponent. It is a particularly important issue in a society which veers towards individual isolation from an early age. From a psychological point of view, practising sport ensures that the individual becomes increasingly autonomous and obtains higher self-esteem. Successfully carrying out a specific activity is extremely satisfying and instils the confidence to resolve problems that once seemed irresolvable. The role of adults, teachers and parents is fundamental in this development
Open Document