In the United States, if you ask parents which subject they value most, many people will answer “sports”, especially after reaching adolescence. The sports that children participate in have become a hot topic when parents meet, and they are willing to spend a lot of money and time to train their children to engage in sports activities.
TAIPEI, TAIWAN (Merxwire) – In Taiwan, the subjects that parents pay the most attention to are usually related to examinations. For example, Chinese and English in language, or mathematics and physics in science and engineering. Although physical education is listed as a compulsory course on campus, it is not taken seriously by most parents and students. But if you ask parents in the United States which subject they value most, many people will answer that it is ” physical education classes”, especially after reaching adolescence. The physical activities in which the children participated became a hot topic when parents met.
Participating in sports may not sound difficult, but it costs a lot to commit to a sport. According to statistics, families across the United States spend as much as $30 billion on youth sports activities, which is a staggering amount. Parents are so enthusiastic about their children’s sports activities that the American financial media “Quartz” described them as “obsessed with them”, which shows how dedicated they are. Statistics also show that most children will be heavily involved in at least one sport.
Statistics from the Aspen Institute in the United States show that about 76% of children aged 6 to 12 participate in individual or team sports. More than 73% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 participate in sports activities. Overall, there are approximately 40 million children and teenagers participating in organized team sports in the United States. In terms of training frequency, during the off-season period, the introductory training stage involves practicing about 2 to 3 times a week. During the season, training plus game time may last up to 6 to 7 days a week. When the official competition is coming, the whole family may go together, and there may even be cross-continental trips, which shows their serious dedication.
Is it worth investing so much money and time in children’s sports training? Most people think that the return on investment seems too low. Take basketball as an example. An average of more than 540,000 high school students participate in basketball training every year. However, according to statistics from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), only 1% of high school athletes can obtain first-level sports scholarships and the odds are even lower for being professional athletes. Financial magazine Forbes made suggestions regarding American families’ enthusiasm for cultivating their children to participate in sports activities, arguing that excessive spending may affect family financial health.
The actual economic rewards seem not to be as generous as imagined, but why are parents still willing to spend time and energy on cultivating their children for sports training, or even becoming an athlete? Since children need to invest a lot of time in practice, physical fitness is a necessary basic requirement. During the practice, children can develop their concentration, teamwork spirit, listening and communication skills, and strong mental capacity. It is also a good outlet to maintain health and release physical and mental stress.
Even if children may not always work in the sports field in the future, the training process will help them develop more proficient communication and expression skills, while also strengthening their mental abilities and self-identity, allowing them to understand themselves better. Their mental maturity also usually exceeds that of people of the same age. In addition to balancing schoolwork and sports training, children learn self-discipline, cooperation, enthusiasm, and the ability to balance schoolwork, sports, and life. They develop a good “sportsman spirit” and often gain extra points when applying for jobs in the future.
A culture devoted to physical activity has many positive effects on children, but some negative concerns have also been raised. With the evolution of the times, the advantages of participating in sports activities are not as obvious as in the past, and the bonus points when applying to college also vary by school or region. For example, in the southern part of the United States, football games are taken more seriously. If you have a training and participation background in football, it will be a bonus for subsequent studies. If you are in the Silicon Valley area, soccer, volleyball or baseball are quite popular. Therefore, different regions and schools have different advantageous sports, so we need to be planned.
And with the development of social media, children’s time to participate in sports activities has also been pushed forward. In the past, it was usually during adolescence, that is, around junior high school to high school, that people would participate in many kinds of sports activities and choose the sports they wanted to focus on and spend time practicing. Nowadays, they start to practice at the age of 8 or younger. Some parents will hire personal trainers to strengthen training. Before children
don’t understand the meaning of sports and their preferences, they are put under the pressure of sports, making sports no longer simple, and even becoming a manifestation of parents’ ability to show off their children.
The original intention of paying attention to sports is a good thing. It can strengthen one’s mind under a beautiful vision, cultivate self-identity and affirm self-worth, and also develop a good attitude towards life and work. But we should exercise appropriately, don’t erase the correct values, don’t cause a lifetime of sports injuries, and lose the original intention of physical exercise. The challenges of sports activities allow us to learn to face and grow, but by properly maintaining safety boundaries, we can maintain a healthy physical and mental state during exercise, so that we can enjoy the various benefits of sports with peace of mind.