Many children participate in organized activities outside of school hours. Whether it’s an art class, a sports team or a social club, there are many benefits of extracurricular activities. Some parents do not take the time to carefully consider the fact that there are many advantages that their kids could likely receive from such programs.
Most of us don’t think about our kids becoming involved in criminal activities, at least not until after it has happened. The fact is that when young people do participate in crime, it often takes place after school while parents are still at work. Children who have somewhere to go and something to do after school have less unsupervised time on their hands, so they’re less likely to get involved with the wrong crowd. Even if you don’t see them at your child’s school, there are plenty of kids getting into things they shouldn’t.
Once a child has made friends with these kids and joined their social circle, he’s much more likely to get into trouble with them. One fear is that they could become involved in illegal activities. Out of all of these activities, you should be quite concerned about drug use in particular. Kids seem to be experimenting with drugs at younger and younger ages. The sooner they start, the more time they have to ruin their lives before they even get started. The rocket was killed before it even had a chance to launch from the pad.
Most organized activities, whether the activity is sports related, educational, or social teach kids two very important things. These are a sense of competition and motivation. These to factors alone will carry over into other areas of your child’s life and stay with them throughout their lifetime. A kid with well rounded interests and pursuits is likely to perform better at school and avoid getting involved in trouble.
It takes time, thought and money to enroll your kids in extracurricular activities. Many parents have a very busy schedule. We not only have to manage our professional affairs, but are personal ones as well. Keep in mind that this type of after school activity, if you child takes it seriously, is going to teach them the most basic skills behind managing a busier life. It’s yet another life skill that they will incorporate and use for many years to come.
Sports are some of the most popular activities for children, and with good reason. In addition to learning teamwork and responsibility, they’ll be getting plenty of exercise. Children who get used to exercising and staying in shape are much more likely to carry that habit into adulthood. Keeping their bodies in shape has so many benefits that it practically goes without saying.
The most important thing that your child could gain from this type of activity is having a good time. Your child probably works very hard to maintain the type of grades that you expect, so let them experience something that they can enjoy before they go home and begin working on any homework assignments that they might have.
Hopefully if you were on the fence about whether to enroll your child in some kind of class, club or sport, you now realize how beneficial it can be. If your child is already involved in something positive, do everything you can to encourage his interest and keep him involved through middle school and high school.
