There is a wealth of reasons why parents are performing a much-needed service by teaching their children the value of sports, starting at an early age. Any sports parent could list off several convincing reasons without giving the subject much thought at all. Those same parents will tell you that you will have a better outcome if you instill the values in your child very early in the developing years. Let’s take a look at three of the top values deemed most important by the majority of parents.
Self Esteem
Self Esteem is at the top of the list as determined by the Marine Corp Community Services website. As we all know, many young children struggle at one time or another with self-esteem. Peer pressure can be a very daunting experience, and if left unchecked can lead to difficult if not life-threatening results. By allowing your child to participate in sports at an early age, the building blocks will be in place so that they will be able to develop their self-esteem and fend off the inevitable and unavoidable peer pressure associated with growing up in today’s world.
Healthy Lifestyle
When a child participates in sports, the activity has both a psychological as well as a physical advantage. The playing and interacting with others who hold the same interest helps with the child developing and exercising their skills for social interaction. They not only play the sport with other like-minded children, but they can talk and carry on meaningful conversations with their peers.
According to the Livestrong website, there are multiple physical advantages to sports as well, such as muscle development, prevention of disease, sharpening of focus and strengthening of the cardiovascular system. If you are looking for a possible source of sports-based exercise, Powerleague has info.
Stress Reliever
In this day and age, stress is pretty much hardwired into our brains and is an integral part of our day to day life. Scientists have gone so far as to state that we, as humans, cannot function without stress to a certain degree. Stress is what keeps us going throughout our day to day lifestyles. We can try to lessen our stress, but to some extent it is still there, making total escape from stress virtually impossible to achieve.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, participating in sports allows children to work off and expel stress, maintaining a more healthy balance. This adds to the mental health of the child, along with helping focus on a task at hand. With the added focus, the child will be more productive, less fidgety, and just easier to handle.
Instilling the value of sports in our children has a wealth of advantages, three of which we have listed above. As with all children, what will work for one may not work for the other, but you can rest assured that sports will help rather than hurt the overall development of your child, allowing them to grow into healthy, well adjusted adults.