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Health and fitness is not a 21st century fad or phenomenon as is popularly believed. As long ago as 400 BCE, the benefits of exercise — mens sana in corpore sano — were well-understood. “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it,” commented the Greek philosopher Plato (428-347 BCE).
Few people read Plato anymore. Parents are busy, teachers are overworked, and youth are over-stimulated by internet, television, media and advertising. Our brave new hi-tech world encourages sedentary pursuits rather than movement and action.
This is not to say nothing is happening in the world of sports — except what’s happening isn’t necessarily good. Despite the reality that only two-five of every 1,000 young sports and games enthusiasts will ever turn pro, many parents continue to believe that sports is about pushing children to win sports scholarships. Such parents — and the coaches to whom they entrust their children — encourage the development of hyper-competitive, egocentric mindsets to achieve this goal.
Even the most well-intentioned gym classes and youth recreation camps develop programmes “for” youth without including them in their design and operations. They seldom ask children about the type of activities they would like to be involved with, and rarely give them a role in running sports programmes congruent with their needs.
As a lifelong athlete, I am sad that today’s young generation may well be the first in US history to live shorter lives than their parents. Even though I am at an age when most of my peers are retired or dead, my response to this frightening possibility is to spend most of my waking hours developing a non-profit exercise, sports, play and leadership programme — Leading2Play — designed to engage young people in activities which improve their health, well-being and chances of school, business and professional success.
This programme enables students from any school or community organisation, with a little training and support from a team of committed advisors, to take the lead in designing and implementing inclusive and enjoyable sports and fitness activities likely to become habit-forming. The programme has been piloted in nine schools with the goal of building a national programme which will have tens of thousands of kids enjoying sports and physical activity by 2020. My hope is it will have great economic and educational benefits and help children develop physically and emotionally.
This is not mere wishful thinking because it’s now well-established by numerous studies that participation in sports and games lengthens life expectancy, decreases absenteeism at work, and improves workplace productivity. Similarly, it’s also well-established that children who are physically active do better in maths and reading, concentrate well, can process information faster and perform better in standardised tests.
Likewise, researchers Holland and Andre (1987) among several others, have established a strong correlation between sports participation and higher levels of self-esteem, improved race relations, involvement in political/social activity during young adulthood, educational ambition and attainments, greater self-control, and lower delinquency rates among youth. While adolescent sportspersons are at greater risk of injury than non-players, they are less likely to make poor lifestyle choices.
Indeed, it’s incontrovertible that young people who exercise have stronger muscles, lesser body fat, and better cardiovascular and mental health. Researchers (Warburton, 2006) have also found “irrefutable evidence of the effectiveness of regular physical activity in the prevention of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis, and even premature death”. Children who are active through their adolescence are also more likely to be physically active as adults.
Most important of all is the effect the Leading2Play programme has on the development of youth leadership skills. Adolescence is a critical period when children transition from childhood to adult life. Therefore it should be a period for youth to practice leadership. During adolescence, young people must learn how to achieve individually, present themselves in social situations, and exercise self-control and self-discipline in their interaction with other members of society. As adults, we need to design education programmes which help youth to develop these life skills. If we fail to do so, we are shirking our responsibility and encouraging anti-social behaviour.
Society needs education programmes which empower children and youth to develop ‘response-ability,’ or the ability to respond to unfamiliar situations. People don’t learn how to become responsible from reading the word on a blackboard; they learn it by doing and trying, and, in some cases, by making mistakes. As adults, we need to encourage young people to become responsible by providing opportunities to help them grow.
(Dr. George A. Selleck is a San Francisco-based advisor to EduSports, Bangalore)