Although
it is often thought that after-school
activities
are essential for
children
's holistic growth, others claim that they add too much burden to
children
having to juggle between academic and non-academic matters. In my opinion, I consider that co-curricular
activities
are vital to developing important life skill sets,
such
as collaboration, empathy, and communication, but students should be forced to do them.
On one hand,
according to
some, extra-curricular
activities
, which mostly involve sports, community service, and arts, are a great platform for
children
to learn teamwork and be creative. Undoubtedly, academic subjects focus too much on individual effort.
As a result
, it is often observed that many academically strong
children
end up not as successful at work as their peers, who were active in co-curricular
activities
since they struggle to collaborate and communicate effectively with others.
Furthermore
, performing well in both academic and non-academic definitely shows that
children
have gone above and beyond their basic academic expectations.
Hence
, top universities’ selection criterion emphasizes extra-curricular involvement.
On the other hand
, people might argue that after-school
activities
take away time from academic studies. Some parents who focus on academics only think that after-school
activities
are a waste of time and energy. There is a heightened interest in mental health;
therefore
, some parents
also
prefer not to pressure their
children
as it is not healthy. There are a lot of depressed
children
in countries with demanding academic standards,
thus
, parents start prioritizing
children
’s happiness.
In addition
to that, in
this
current society, which promotes free will, many support
children
have the power to choose their own path.
Finally
, in my opinion, it is
children
's need to join extracurricular
activities
. It provides a way to learn indispensable life skills. Though I agree that free will is a basic right,
children
require proper guidance from experienced adults to navigate the real world. One way to resolve
this
is letting
children
try and choose what co-curricular
activities
that interest them. They
also
can make a lot of friends, who can be their valuable support system, through these
activities
.
Last
but not least, research has shown that non-academic
activities
could be a channel to release stress.
For example
, exercising releases dopamine which boosts mental health.
In conclusion, extracurricular
activities
have a lot of benefits for
children
. Though it might add pressure, they can start learning about time management early by balancing both academic subjects and non-academic
activities
.