A few questions to ask yourself about your children’s behavior.
Are your children shy?
Do they cry at the drop of hat?
Do they have a hard time with speech?
Do they have a hard time getting along with other children?
Do they have a hard time communicating their feelings?
Do they act out in public places?
Do they have aggressive behavior?
Do they seem sad/angry to often?
Do they throw unnecessary temper tantrums?
Do they have poor grades in school?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I would ask you continue to read.
As a father of 5 children I will tell you from experience, that sports are the best therapy a parent or guardian could give their children. They will learn team work, self confidence, discipline, effective communication, social skills, and they will overcome any shyness or behavior disorders.
When I was a child, I was all of the above. I was constantly bullied and made fun of and I hated going to school. I would cry every night because of the bullying that happened to me.
I am here to tell you bullying is very dramatic on a child, and they can carry it with them all their life. Just ask me I can tell you a lot on this subject. This is not the purpose of this article, and I will be writing in length on the subject of bullying at a later time.
My oldest child who is know 10 was very shy when he first started pre-school he was short, chubby and had/has red hair. I would tell my wife he is going to be picked on horribly. I just was not going to let my child be bullied like I was. I kept thinking what am I going to do to keep this child safe from bullying.
The damage can be done quickly if a child is bullied. He/She will clam up and that’s it he will be socially awkward for a long time. What is one to do? You can’t control what other children will say? I kept thinking what to do?
Before his first day of school, we talked with him and explained to him that some children are mean, and they might say things that will hurt is feelings, and that he shouldn’t let it bother him, and if someone does make fun of him or give him a hard time then he needs to talk to his parents and or teacher about it and do not let it bottle up inside of you. If your child is not communicating or has anger issues you need to talk to him and get those feelings out, if one is to hold in his/her feelings it could lead to a emotional damage later in life. We told him to just brush it off, remember sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
It was his first day of pre-school, and my wife and I talked to the teacher and principal, and we informed them of are stance on bullying, and they assured my wife and I, they do not tolerate bullying in the school.
Well, that was some what of relief, but I just knew he was going to have problems. Well, it was only a few days and some kid started picking on him about his hair and being short etc.
When I picked him up that evening, he told me what happened, and I was furious. I talked to my wife and she put a call into the school. They addressed the problem quickly, and they said that the child that is causing the problems has a troubled home and they are working on the situation.
I thought troubled family that’s not good, but I am not going to tolerate this behavior from anybody in any family situation. Well, the child continued to bully my son.
So what does a Father do? I told my son he was going to have to handle the situation, and talk with this kid, and tell him to just stop picking on him. Well my son talked to the other child, and he stopped bullying him. It was never that easy for me, but maybe between the teacher’s, and my son the other child understood that it was wrong to bully people.
To this day my son still remembers that kid that would pick on him, bullying is something you will carry with you forever. We must educate the children that bullying is wrong. The process of teaching are children starts in the home, and we as parents, grandparents, guardians need to reinforce good behavior from our children.
Well, I thought this kid is going to need to learn to protect himself, mom and dad won’t always be their. So we went on down to my old karate instructor and signed up. He loved it, he was able to interact with other children, makes friends, and learn discipline.
I instantly felt better, I actually had the chance to train with him and watch him interact with other children, and the instructor. He was a hit, everyone loved him, and he learned how to throw some kicks, punches and learned some basic self defense. He loved it. I thought this kid although different from the others with red hair he is a people person, he’ll know how to handle the bullying situations in the future.
That is just a little story of bullying, that my own child experienced in pre-school. Now on with the story.
If your children have any of the symptom’s mentioned in paragraph one, then I would highly recommend that you get your children involved in sports or some after school program’s.
I have had my children involved in sports since the oldest was 4 and my second oldest since he was 3. My oldest was shy, and my second oldest was very aggressive.
Here is a list of benefits your child will learn in sports or after school programs. I have written the following in a question / answer session. I hope this is easy enough for you to understand.
1) My child is very shy, and does not like to associate with other children, how do I help him/her with this problem?
Answer: My oldest child was very shy, and I placed him in a team sport soccer (after karate). The reason I choose a team sport is because, he will learn to interact with other children, and he will not be the focus of all the attention, meaning that when the coach is training the children he or she is talking to the entire team, and not just focusing in on one child. This will help your child to overcome his or her shyness.
2) My child has an aggressive behavior, how will sports help him calm down?
Answer: My six year old has an aggressive behavior, and has since he could first walk, and his mind never slows down, and he is very active. What I have discovered is you have to use this active behavior, and harness that energy into productive energy. Meaning you have to keep him or her busy all the time, if you do not then this energy, it can become destructive energy. The best type of sport in my opinion is a individual sport such as wrestling, karate or boxing. Your child will learn to use his or her energy and will in time work through their aggressive behavior. They will also learn discipline, and respect for others.
3) My child has a hard time communicating, how will sports help him?
Answer: Communication is the most important tool we have as people, if you cannot effectively communicate then life will be quite challenging. I highly recommend a team sport where your child is interacting with other children, he or she will learn good communication skills by listening, and asking questions from his or her team mates and through the coach.
An after school program would be very beneficial also. I have my children enrolled in a good news program after school, and they learn effective communication in a question and answer environment. This teaches children effective communication. If your children ask a lot of questions this is good. Please answer their questions the best you can, as long as their asking questions they will continue to learn and communicate effectively.
4) How will sports or an after school program help teach my child from acting out in school or public places?
Answer: What your child will learn from sports or an after school program is that it is not acceptable to carry on in a manner that is not appropriate. He or she will learn that other children do not act this way and maybe they shouldn’t either. He or she will learn discipline, social skills, communication and how to follow directions, just to name a few. I am telling you the experience your child will learn in group activities is the best therapy, and learning you can give your children. Sometimes it takes an outside person such as a coach for your child to understand. Children sometimes become resentful towards parents and it takes an outsider to help you with their behavior.
5) My child is heavy and very clumsy, he can’t play sports, what can I do?
Answer: Their isn’t anything a child cannot do, please refrain from talking this way about your child. You need to encourage your children, and remind them that the sky is not the limit. We have no limits, if you can dream it, you can do it. Do not use negative words when speaking to your children, this will create a negative impact on their subconscious later in life. Please refer to my article on replacing negative words with positive words it works.
If your child was born with physical or mental handicaps, you will need to find something that child enjoys, writing, drawing, computers, what ever makes them happy, and reinforce this into their daily activities, and you will see a whole new happy child.
If your child is heavy and clumsy, you should still put them into sports. If they are not fast runners don’t put them in track, put them in bowling, or maybe boy scouts, something that will help them interact with other children. If clumsy them put them in karate, boxing, ballet, this will help them with balance, shyness, discipline etc.
If your child is not physically fit, sports are also a great way to help them get in shape. Overweight adults and children have become a national disaster, we need to educate our children on eating healthy, and exercising. This starts in the home and remember, it is you, who is ultimately responsible for the health of your child.
Today’s food’s are un-healthy, and until we come together as people, and petition our leaders, to have more oversight on the food industry we will continue to eat un-healthy fast food, food produced with steroids, growth hormones and other preservatives, we will continue to being overweight and out of shape. I am only touching on this issue slightly, and may in the future write more pertaining to this, and help educate people on the importance of the foods we consume and the health effect’s they have on us. Remember, you are what you eat.
It is very important to have your children on a healthy diet and ensure they are getting the proper exercise.
My advice to all parent’s, guardians or grandparent’s, is to sign your child into a sport or an after school program, or even boy/girl scouts, this is very important into today’s world. Your children will learn valuable life lessons. There is also valuable learning lessons for parents or guardians to learn also.
Sports programs also encourage good grades out of children, the coaches often remind them that if their grades are not good they will not be able to play sports. This is a motivator for your child to do good in school.
To reiterate your children will learn self control, discipline, communication, respect, manners, social skills, how to follow direction’s, they will become physically fit, just to name a few of the benefit’s your children will receive from extra curricular activities. Go out sign them up today, and you will have a happy child in your home. Good Luck!! It works.
