Well-intentioned parents sometimes encouraging their children to stop dancing and sports activities to focus on studying for their GCSEs or A-levels. Dance classes and other physical activities provide a valuable creative release.
If sports, dancing and other physical activities are classified as optional extras, activities that can be abandoned as soon as academic examinations loom on the horizon, we are sending the message that nothing else matters. Indeed, at times of stress, the need for stress relief and a boost for brain function become even more important. Encouraging young people to quit all the fun activities, and lead a more sedentary lifestyle, is surely a recipe for a stressful and miserable time.
Movement, impact on joints and good nutrition can give a child good bone density for life. Sitting down for long periods of time is, in a sense, just a period of neglect for the body. Most people come to recognize that exercise, particularly when taken outside in open green spaces, actually affects the brain. It stops us brooding, lifts our spirits and broadens our outlook on life.
It is not necessary to look too far to find adults struggling with aspects of life with which they would have coped far better had they maintained their earlier vigorous physical activities. Sport and physical activities in general need to be seen as being as important as academic studies. A lifelong exercise habit might well keep you alive to see your grand children get married - an extra GCSE certificate will not.
Yes, exams are important, but don't hang up your leotard too readily!
Latest Blog Topics
Quit Dancing - GCSE's are Looming?
- Details