Kids & Sports: Nurturing a Lifelong Passion

Many children lose interest in sports over time and are no longer willing to play sports at all, be it football, badminton, swimming or martial arts. They only join “soulmates” on the computer or phone when they don’t need to study. Is there a way to change this and instill a love of sports in children?

When children… are afraid of sports

“Our generation was so engrossed in sports after school that we forgot meals and had to look for our parents,” said teacher Nguyen Xuan Thieu of Nguyen Van Nguyen Elementary School in Tay Ninh Province cheerfully.

The teacher confessed that he grew up in the country during a time of economic hardship. It was normal for students to skip breakfast to go to school, and when they did eat, it was only sweet potatoes and rice with fish sauce and salt.

“Most of the students of our time were physically weaker than today, both in terms of weight and height. Many students in the 8th and 9th grades were as small as today’s primary school graduates. But our sporting spirit was very strong.”

There are usually three subjects in physical education classes: running, long jump and high jump. Everyone loves these classes because they can train on the sports field. After school, the boys stay behind to play soccer and badminton, and when they are a little older, they play volleyball at the end of middle and high school. The girls love jumping rope…” – Teacher Thieu added that back then it was normal to study in the morning and then do sports in the blazing midday sun. Everyone was dark-skinned and strong.

However, over the last 10 to 15 years, as technology and entertainment devices such as phones, tablets, laptops and televisions have become more popular and affordable, enthusiasm for sports has declined significantly. Mr Thieu said it was very difficult for both families and teachers to get children to play a particular sport.

In fact, some students play their favorite sports such as football, badminton, martial arts, swimming, etc. in clubs or parks outside of school hours, but the majority of students do not have this opportunity.

Teachers, parents and students themselves have cited many reasons for this lack of interest in sports.

The first reason often given is that students have to study too much (spending all day at boarding school, doing homework in the evenings and attending additional classes on the weekend), which leaves them no time for sports.

The second reason is that children are “addicted” to electronic devices that they use to watch online entertainment or play games.

And the third reason lies in the school itself: There is too little physical education, even though the children are busy with their main subjects and therefore have no opportunity to do sports at school. This leads to children gradually becoming lazy and no longer interested in physical activities.

In addition, many parents believe that another reason is that the current pace of urban development does not match sports centers, many areas do not have sports clubs or are too far from them…

Discover your child’s love for sports

However, the reality is optimistic, as many parents are aware of the consequences of their children’s passive lifestyle and sedentary lifestyle. Since they couldn’t wait for schools to offer more physical education classes, they managed to instill a love of sports in their children – and with some success.

Mr. Truong Thanh Hai (43 years old, manager of a packaging production plant in Ben Luc Township, Tay Ninh) said he is aware of the sedentary lifestyle of today’s children and therefore encourages his children to love sports from preschool age.

He said: “My wife and I have known how to raise our children since we got married. We have recognized the problem of ‘addiction’ to cell phones and social media entertainment and therefore do not allow our children to access them from a young age. My wife, like many other families, never turns on the TV or cell phone so the children can watch while they eat porridge or rice.

As soon as my child was two years old, we introduced a rule that parents were not allowed to surf social media or watch too much TV while the child was around so that the children would not imitate us.”

Hai’s two children were born a year apart. When the older one was six and the younger one was five, he and his wife took them to swimming lessons. They were hesitant at first, but when they saw that their parents were also going to the pool, they were immediately excited. The couple also thought that children could often get sick while learning to swim, for example from ear, nose and throat infections or colds.

First, they choose a cleaner swimming pool than the others, then they always bathe their children thoroughly after swimming and carefully clean their ears, nose and throat with saline solution.

“In fact, the two children suffered from slight discomfort in the first few weeks, but after that they developed good resistance. After just two months of training, my two little princesses, aged 5 or 6, mastered the two swimming styles of breaststroke and freestyle.” He added that when their children learned to swim, the couple rejoiced as if they had achieved something great. Because they know that swimming is one of the most important survival skills that you have to learn early…

When the children were in primary school and now in secondary school, the couple organized swimming training for them at least two to three times a week, including once during the week and twice on weekends. Each training lasted an hour. There was always one person present in the swimming pool if there were not enough parents. The children were very confident and loved swimming.

In addition, the two daughters have passed on their badminton hobby. “The children play badminton for at least two hours a week. A doctor friend says that badminton is not only good for the bones, muscles and cardiovascular system, but also very good for the eyes if you constantly have to watch the flying shuttlecock.” Mr. Hai said he was afraid that his children would soon become short-sighted if they studied too much, so he let them play badminton as his friend had advised.

In contrast to Mr. Hai and his wife, who did not make a conscious effort to get their children involved in sports at an early age, many other parents, despite initial difficulties, have gradually managed to get their children to exercise and keep them away from small and large screens in the house.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (38 years old, a bank employee in Hoa Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) said her child could stay at school for an hour after school to play sports with his friends. There are football, basketball and volleyball groups in the schoolyard, and her son, who is in the 8th grade, plays in all sports.

“Now the boy enjoys basketball. My husband and I support him fully and advise him to eat and sleep regularly to develop a size suitable for this sport. He understands and pays attention to eating more nutritious food, going to bed before 10 p.m. and before 9:30 p.m. on weekends. He also asks his parents to set up a pull-up bar at home so that he can practice growing.” – Ms. Thanh added that her son gradually started to enjoy sports since the first year of middle school.

They also send their son to basketball practice three times a week, where he trains for an hour and a half each time. Her husband also said that once he enters tenth grade, they will send him to martial arts classes so that he can at least learn the basics of self-defense.

Like Hai and his wife, who enjoy swimming and playing badminton, Thanh and her husband also enjoy walking in the park near their home. Every week, no matter how busy they are, they go for walks five times, totaling at least five hours. “I want parents to be role models for their children about physical activity,” says Thanh happily.

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“Gen 9X parents often worry about different educational trends and a lot of negative outside influences. But in the midst of these worries, my husband and I sometimes say to ourselves, “Okay, we just have to love our kids.”

Further: Just love your child