Child's Play

RunBurn's Kidzathon Flag-off

As a child who grew up in the 80s, I spent a lot of my time in the playground in the evening. It could have been because of the lack of other things to engage like – TV, Play Stations etc. Back in those days, we had pretty much 2 channel available for entertainment which played cartoons or children’s entertainment program only for a meagre 2 hours. I categorically remember getting a shout out every evening from the friends and we would get out and play games like Cricket, Football, Marbles(for that matter), but those hours were definitely spent out in the field.

As we grew old and technology started playing its part, all of us started getting confined to our own mobile phones. A lot has been written on this subject by a lot of bloggers and authors. However, What I intend to talk about here is how, we as parents are not pushing our kids in to the field. Even when we spent most of our time there as children.

As a parent of a 6 year old, have observed a lot of the following things:

1. Many parents, since both are working, take the mobile as a rescue mode to keep the child engaged when the child starts demanding time from them.
2. Most of the kids have started spending time indoors thanks to the numerous entertainment options which are now available to them
3. With increasing exposable income parents have started buying expensive toys (tablets, play stations) for children which are confining children to home. Children are still playing with their friends but indoors – a football game on the play station
4. Parents have started becoming increasingly worried about hygiene issues because of children playing in dirt/mud
5. It has been observed (and it is a purely personal observation) that most of the cartoons and games that children are watching and playing these days are violent in nature or definitely not the Tom & Jerry types. I have heard one of the child being sent back home from school for biting other children. On investigation it was found that the child was playing a mobile game too much which included biting an enemy to move to the next level.
6. Most of the children today are eating far larger amount of junk food than they used to two decades ago.

While there are many advantages of giving your children the mobile phones and play stations at an early age, there are many more advantages of getting them to spend more time playing a sport. This is my attempt at listing a few advantages of playing a field sport for children:

1. Improve physical health – This is like stating the obvious but yes sometimes the obvious needs to be stated. There are many physical and mental health benefits of children taking up a field sport. Often times we keep telling our children how we did not spend time in front of TV. It would rather be beneficial if as a parent we take up some sport and they will look at us and follow. It is the parents who have to enthuse the excitement about a sport in children
2. Well-being for a lifetime – As your child gets older, the importance they will give to a sport will start reducing as they will start getting sucked more and more in to academics. It is important that they are encouraged to take a sport at an early age. The health benefits of taking a sport are well documented however that not the only reason why children should take up a sport. A healthy body will also house an active and fit mind. This will help them to keep their stress levels down. Believe me, they have stress and the system is putting it on them.
3. Social Skills – Getting involved in a sport is the best way of developing social skills like communication, team work, leadership skills, interpersonal skills etc. Exposing them to these skills at an early age can give them a huge heads-up for their future
4. Learn Life Lessons – Two thing that sports can definitely teach children are that - there are no shortcuts to success and you will win some and you will lose some, but you should never give up. They will also start cherishing the success received after a lot of hard work.
5. Make new friends – Children will make new friends and they keep making friends more often when they are involved in a sport. No one likes their children to be locked into a room and be by themselves. Helping your kids involve in a sport will naturally build their skill to make friends and talk to strangers with ease.
6. Introduce kids to competition – While there is a lot of competition in academics and other extra-curricular activities, sports will show them competition in the raw form. They will learn to stay focused on the goal, solve issues with their team members etc.
7. May be, a champion is born – The intention of a parent may not be to create a champion in some sport (some parents do put that pressure on children), but you never know you may be gifting the nation with a future Sachin or Sindhu or Sania or Hima or Neeraj Chopra.
8. Positive Impact on Studies – All of us may think that sports may distract the child from academics, however it may prove the opposite. Involving in sport can make their entire day energetic and hence they will remain more focused in whatever they do. A numerous studies have proven that sports has positive impact on academics as well.
9. Healthy Eating – Joining any sports coaching group will help your child take up healthy eating habits as well. The coaches and nutritionists will instil this in them. Also, as they grow up, they will themselves understand that staying away from junk food is the best thing that they can do for their own benefit
10. Is it safe to play in mud? – Absolutely. A lot of parents these days have been over protective of children – I say this from some experience. I have heard certain parents complaining in school because the AC was not working for one hour. Or I have parents not sending their children to the ground because there is too much pollution. All this may be true, however, one should know that allowing children to play in mud, grounds, grass, is completely OK. There are various benefits – it will improve immunity of children, it will better their sensory skills and also make them more creative.

Parenting is an art and all of the parents out there take a lot of effort to give the best to their children. Gifting a team or individual sport to your children can have great benefits to them if done at an early age. So – Let your Child Play!