Personal is Political Essay (Essay Sample)

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Personal is Political Essay Personal experience Since man was created, sports have always had a splendid role in the way people spend their lives. Presumably, from the time, we are born to our elderly age; we have participated in sports in one way or another. It may not matter the type of sports one was involved in, whether a scrimmage soccer game at recess in elementary school, simply watching Olympics on television or playing in university basket ball team. In this essay, I explore my personal experience in sports. During my childhood, the ideology of sports was the most ornamental activity for all boys and men. When I was in elementary school, Physical Education (P.E) marked as one of the most important activity for the entire class. Personally, I thought that it was unessential activity because it was not part of the class work. I would always weasel out from playing in a football or basketball team. My friends always viewed me as being less masculine and an athletic boy, and more of feminine simply because of my little interest in games. Even when I decided to join a team, I was picked out last. To some extent, I was disappointed in myself but I did not despair, as sports were not included in the final grading. When I went back to home, I would explain to my father how I disliked the idea of participating in any Physical education activities because they made me look more of a girl than a boy. However, he encouraged me not to disregard physical activities because they play an integral part in maintenance of our body health. In addition, he explained to me that it is normal to have a negative attitude towards P.E, but I should roll with the punches and forget what others perceived of me. He added that it would do me more harm than good if I disregarded P.E because it was an important tool in my life. It is imperative to note that well organized sport programs grant youths chances to participate in activities that can bring forth immediate and most importantly long-term benefits, either physically, psychologically, or socially. Larger Issue Nowadays, if a father tends to enjoy a certain sport like an NFL game or hockey, there is a high probability that his son will take after his footsteps and like the same game. It is like saying that an apple does not fall far from the tree. The reason as to why boys take after their fathers is due to the fear that they may be ostracized by their own father and be perceived as lesser person than he is. It will be a wise idea for the father to accept the fact that his son does not like some sports like football and not think of him being more feministic than a boy. Physical activity is essential in enhancing overall children development, and maintaining good health. Research has also revealed that there exists a beneficial relationship between academic performance, physical activity, and brain development. One of the psychological benefits derived from sports is that sports aid to boost self-esteem of the participant. Self-esteem of children is usually boosted when coaches, teammates, and parents gather to cheer them up, and show some sense of pride because of the children's accomplishment (Kane, John 1972). Numerous studies show that all the girls who participate in any sort of physical activity like sports, have more positive feelings of self-esteem, and a positive body image than girls who disregard physical activities. Although everyone is well versed with the various advantages children can derive from physical activity, recent studies show that physical activity is reducing day-by-day in children. In addition, some elementary schools do not put more emphasis on physical education as required. This has led to a declining number of students who register for P.E classes, specifically for female adolescents. Little physical activity has attributed to rise in sedentary behaviors like playing video games and watching television. Hours spent in physical activities tend to reduce as children are allowed to watch television during their free time (Coe, Dawn 2003). A number of factors can contribute the problem of students hating physical education. For instance, students may be experiencing different stages of puberty. Some even get embarrassed of the changes taking place in his/her body. In addition, due to the heightening of hormone levels, some of the athletic attire, which exposes skin and creates an opportunity for physical contact with opposite sex, may increase sexual distractions/tensions. Growth spurts may also reduce coordination and body balance. Females tend to be more dissatisfied with their bodies because of hip growth and increased body fat. For males, they often become more satisfied because of muscle mass increase. Some students may hate P.E because they may not want to get sweaty or exhausted the rest of school day. Moreover, certain religious beliefs or customs can affect students performance in P.E. For instance, a student wearing a full body covering with headscarf can find it difficult to participate in outside physical activity. Some of the dress codes like shorts or short sleeve T-shirt can be demanding the students to disregard their beliefs (Laker, Anthony 2002). In order to increase students psyche in P.E, teachers can adopt number of possibilities. For instance, they can plan a number of activities where all girls go for swimming while the boys engage in field activities. They can also look for a way of replacing the clothing that does not match with some of the students' beliefs but allows them to have free movement in the field. There are some warnings that teachers should take note of in order to know whether their students embrace P.E classes. For example, if students walk to the field during P.E with their heads down it will depict that they do not like it at all. Students having a hallway chat of dreading physical education class is also another sign of lack of interest in P.E classes. In addition, cases of students hiding in various remote areas during physical education classes. Lack of enthusiasm, and repeated absenteeism in the field during P.E lessons will depict that students have no interest in physical activities (Phillips, David 2003) It is also important that parents take part in encouraging students to embrace physical activities. For instance, students who have a feeling that their parents support them are less likely to be victims of attempted suicide cases, disengagement in school activities and bad eating habits. Parental engagement in student's school activities can help to bring about a coordinated school health framework. It will be of great help if different organization dealing with childcare services take the initiative and start sensitizing parents on the importance of physical activity in children. Moreover, they should vividly define the specific roles parents are supposed to play in nurturing their children, especially the fathers. Father's involvement with their children has always remained a topic of discussion. In addition, father's roles in child's growth are not well defined. T...