The Advantages Extracurricular Activities has on Elementary Students
Mark, a fourth grader at Springfield Elementary came home and explained to his mom about the friend he had made during band class, and the teamwork he was involved in during volleyball practice. Mark failed to mention to his mom anything about his regular school day. “Extracurricular activities serve the same goal and functions as the required and elective courses in the curriculum. However, extracurricular activities provide experiences that are not required in the formal course of study. These after school programs allow students to apply the knowledge that they have learned in other classes and acquire concepts of democratic life” (Lunnenburg 2). Mark like many children usually forget the essentials from the normal school day curriculum like mathematics or sentence structure, but remember everyday lessons learned during after school programs. These programs or extracurricular activities include sports, clubs, dance, music, arts, drama and such, all programs that benefit elementary students. Today, in the United States when elementary schools do not have enough funds for these programs, the extracurricular activities are the first eliminated to save money. Elimination of these programs causes more harm than good to the students because these programs are just as beneficial as the normal school curriculum. Therefore all of these extracurricular programs must remain as an option in school districts.
Studies among elementary students have shown that there are advantages that come along with providing extracurricular activities in schools. The first very important advantage is what it teaches these children, ages 5 to 10 during the early stages of cognitive d...
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...kills that children gain from extracurricular activities can be useful and important when discovering their identity in early adolescents and adulthood.
Clearly, it would be wise for schools to make an effort in fighting to keep extracurricular activities even when the school budget is tight. There has to be a better arrangement when funds are scares than just eliminating the programs. When schools are forced to cut they should consider cutting a little in each subject all around from required, elective, and extracurricular activities rather than on just one set of programs. Students learn just as valuable lessons when participating in these extracurricular activities as they do with the normal school curriculum. If the benefits out way the disadvantages and it is improving and preparing our children for their future it would be a smarter idea to keep the programs.
Within a community is a sense of unity, which for many is brought together by the young athletes of the community. In his article “High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business,” Mark Koba of CNBC highlights that within the last thirty to forty years high school football has escalated into a highly revered tradition in which not only communities, but highly successful corporations have begun to dedicate millions of dollars towards (Koba n. pg.). This highlights the status of sports within the community and may explain part of the reason schools would favor sports over other programs. Because sports programs can often turn over big profits for schools, they tend to dedicate most of their excess funds towards sports, and rely on sports programs to create large profits for the school. When school administrators see how much sports unite, excite, and benefit the school, they develop a respect for sports and consider it a necessity to provide a good sports program for their students and community. Also in his article, Koba quotes an interviewee named Mark Conrad who is the associate professor of legal and ethical studies at Fordham University 's school of...
... Reestablishing community goals and encouraging youths to engage in extracurricular activities will greatly improve outlooks on life and help them make the right choices for a better tomorrow.
Gutierrez, Kris D., Carolina Izquierdo, and Tamar Kremer-Sadlik. "Middle Class Working Families' Beliefs and Engagement in Children's Extra-Curricular Activities: The Social Organization of Children's Futures." The International Journal of Learning 17.3 (2010): 633-56. Web. 21 May 2014.
With society’s ever increasing price tag of education, public schools have gone to great lengths to cut costs from the unessential activities during and after school hours. First it was music programs and art classes; however, with the desperate need for teachers, athletic programs have felt the grunt of this expedition. Now, more than ever, youths in our communities are battling serious problems. Not only are sports and organized athletic programs vital to physical development, but also mental growth and offer children structure and goals. Unfortunately, many schools have to cut back or even eliminate sports/athletic programs due to lack of funding.
When schools make budget cuts, they usually take money from athletic programs and clubs. The author is essentially saying that schools have taken away funding from too many programs that it feels as if they will will even stop funding necessary programs in order to say money. This critique on budget cuts helps us see the problem within the public school system. Certain activities that are common in other schools will be seen as a luxury to students in other schools and therefor are not given the same opportunities. The underfunded schools have taken away money from many programs that they will now have to stop funding certain areas that are key to a student’s education.
Children today seem to be involved in many activities outside of school. A number of children may play soccer, swim, play an instrument, and help out around the house while at the same time trying to succeed academically. In many cases, the vast number of sports played by these children is due to the parent’s encouragement, or enforcement. Some parents may enforce after school activities in order to keep their children away from the “evils of society”: drugs, alcohol, and simply loitering and causing trouble. Unfortunately, at times, the pressure from the parents can have negative effects on the children academically and/or socially. Some reasons that parents push their kids so much, could be the small possibility of a college scholarship or money for the child in the future, keeping their children off the street, or the chance that the parents are living vicariously through their child’s sports glory.
When there are less kids, there is a greater opportunity for kids to be involved. They can be in several sports, performing arts, or any group they desire. I was involved in volleyball, football managing, basketball, track, cheerleading, softball, choir, and student council. I was always busy with projects or practices “promotes an overall feeling of unity and social solidarity (Schaefer 2016:18). Activities and “sports serve as a safety value for other participants and spectators, who are allowed to shed tension and aggressive energy in a socially acceptable way” (Schaefer 2016:18). At big schools, not every kids has a chance to be involved and so they have to get their anger out some other way, which can lead to bad things. Since I have been involved in many activities and had ways to relieve my anger I do not need another way; therefore, I have not gotten into bad situations. I am satisfied that I haven’t missed out on an activity that I have wanted to do because of my school. Sadly, this does not happen in all schools. Many large schools do not give the students the same chances because there is more competition. At these schools, kids have to compete to be on an extracurricular team. They really have to specialize in the organization or else they do not have the opportunity to be a part of the activity. Many have to specialize in this extracurricular activity
Children now participate in an array of extra-curricular activities, spending their time outside of school away from home. Some parents may feel this is a way to spend time with their child, if they are involved in coaching or being a spectator. For other parents, the activity gives them some free time while their child participates. Children learn to work in groups or as part of a team, while learning from adults and peers alike. Parents may or may not have a part in this type of...
events” (Irish). The loss of extracurricular activities is just one of the many things that schools
Just about every high school in the United States provides students with the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, volunteering, music, academic or interest clubs, and student government . The question arising is whether low income students are less likely to participate in these extracurricular activities. Understanding the causes and reasons behind the significantly lower amount of extracurricular activity participation among low socioeconomic students incites a systematic approach to a solution. If impoverished students are unequally participating in extracurricular activities compared to high-income students, than they are also deprived of the procured benefits such as leadership experiences and social
As Sarah Otto mentions in her text, in American schools there are many different extracurricular activities you can choose between, such as sports and math clubs. I would like to have that in my dream school as well. I think that the students would really appreciate doing something they really like at the end of the day after a day full of studies. An extracurricular activity would be good to relieve stress from the school
McNeal, Ralph. “Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts.” Sociology of Education v68n1: Jan 1995, 62-80.
Two-thirds of children who participate in extracurricular activities are expected to attain at least a bachelor’s degree, whereas only half of children that do not participate do (National Center for Education Statistics, 1995). Childhood is a very important time in our lives, a time when we develop many vital skills that follow us into adulthood. Some people laugh or scoff at us parents that keep our children to busy schedules. Those same people would also argue that our children should be allowed to have a childhood, to not be so tightly scheduled in their daily lives. Before jumping on that bandwagon, I would suggest doing a little research. Participating in after-school activities has shown to benefit children in many ways. Children should
These negative effects include cuts in funding for art programs and sports that have little popularity. The reason this is important is due to a students ' ability to create a social structure outside the classroom. Going through high school, counselors always say to participate in school, both in the classroom and out as it will help with the students ' grade. But due to these program cuts, students ' have fewer choices in after-school programs which correlate back to their grade. The reason for this is closely related to why many people exercise to relieve stress. An archive from John Holloway states that when a student does participate more outside of school, their grade point average goes up. Holloway gathered research from other sources stating, "adolescents who participated in structured activities supervised by positive adult role models were more likely to make personal investments in their schooling that might, in turn, motivate them to excel academically" (Holloway par. 9). It gives the students a reason to get up and go
Extracurricular activities can benefit students greatly through their personal lives and well being. According to Justin Coulson in his article on kidspot.com, students that are involved in extracurricular activities, such as sports or clubs, are generally healthier than those who do not participate. Extracurricular activities can help raise student’s self esteem and self awareness as stated by Joy Burgess in her article, “Extracurricular School Activities and the Benefits” at more4kids.info. Being involved allows the student to learn about the skills and talents they already have and can teach them new ones such as time management, organization, and prioritizing skills. It also allows the students to realize what they are good at or enjoy doing (Burgess). As similarly described by the College Board staff at collegeboard.org, extracurriculars can enable you to learn your personal talents, interests, ...