Tag Archives: kids

Is Fun Highly Overrated?

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Raising Children…

Is Fun Highly Overrated?

“Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.” Proverbs 14:13

Recently a little boy dropped out of summer school. When asked why he didn’t want to go, he said, “They told us two things. They said that it would be fun and that we wouldn’t have homework. Well, the first day they gave us a journal to take home each day and bring back, and it wasn’t fun at all while we were there.”
How often we hear parents, leaders, teachers, and others tell children, “It will be fun!” Well-meaning adults use the phrase to motivate children. Actually, it often builds up expectations to the point that nothing can match; then, children become disappointed. Perhaps it would be better to let the child decide for self whether something will be fun. Even better, perhaps fun should not be the reason for doing something.
In my concordance, the word “fun” had zero results. The Bible does not teach that the reason for doing something is to have fun. Fun may very well be the by-product of an activity, but should it be the goal?
We often forget that there are four personality types and only one of them is fun-loving. In today’s environment, the idea of fun often seems out of place when children come from broken homes or homes where drugs are used and terrible things happen. On the news, older children hear of beheadings and killings. Should we really be emphasizing the goal of fun?
As we observe our young adults entering the work force, it is troubling to see many who believe their jobs should be fun. Could that be true because fun has been emphasized so much as they were growing up? Are we shortchanging our children by over-emphasizing fun? Many jobs are not fun. Many things in life are not fun.
Fun is more fun when it just happens…not when it is expected. Summer church camps provide good clean fun for kids, but it may be better to not over-hype the fact. The same is true for church activities. We should be honest with children. Not all of the activities may be fun. Laughter is a good thing, and we certainly need laughter from time to time. It is unrealistic, however, to promote the idea that everything should be fun.
How can we motivate children if we don’t use fun as the motivating factor? There is nothing to compare to the feeling of a job well done. Honest praise is a real motivator. Praise works, however, only if it is genuine. Children can sense “phony” praise. When praise is given sparingly, it means more and encourages a child to try again.
It is easy to get into the habit of saying, “It will be fun!” Perhaps we should come up with better motivational phrases.

The Value of Physical Activity

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Train up a child…

 

The Value of Physical Activity

 

Children need to develop in four areas. Those four areas are mental, social, spiritual, and physical. Quite often one or more of these areas may be neglected, but each area is important.

Physical development does not come automatically. Even though a child is growing bigger, he may not be growing healthier. An old expression says, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Children get most of their physical activity from play, but they can also get it from work.

What are the benefits of physical activity? Physical activity strengthens the body. A child who is physically active is usually a happier child. Children involved in team sports learn teamwork and what it means to give one’s best.

The blood in our bodies bathes every muscle and organ bringing nourishment to every part. When we exercise, the heart pumps harder ensuring that each part is reached with the nutrients needed. When a person sits around all the time, the blood doesn’t move as fast and nutrients are not carried throughout the body as needed. Body parts do not work at their maximum without the stimulation of exercise. The brain needs to be bathed by the blood just as does all of the body. We do not think as clearly and as well without exercise.

We’ve heard of those who have been unfortunate and had to spend a lengthy amount of time in the hospital and then they have to learn to walk again. The muscles become very weak without usage. The heart is a muscle. When we exercise and it beats more rapidly, it is getting strengthened, too.

Exercise creates endorphin. Endorphin is a substance that fights pain and depression. We often forget that children can be depressed as much or more than adults. People who don’t exercise often start feeling sorry for themselves and become depressed. Physical exercise helps to prevent this from happening. It is best to keep busy. Teenagers often like to stay in their rooms for long periods of time. This is an emotional time in their lives and at this time they especially need to exercise.

Team sports at school provide a fun way to get exercise. While getting the physical activity, they also learn to put themselves in background positions for the overall good of others. The cheering they hear while playing builds self esteem and motivates them to go beyond what they have accomplished and reach for more. They often discover that they can do more than they ever thought they could. This transfers to other areas of their lives as well and they get the attitude that they can do better. This becomes a motivation to be the best they can be.

Sometimes it seems that there is not enough time to do everything a child needs. Exercise can be worked into the schedule in subtle ways. Parents can ask children to run a race to the mailbox. When shopping, the car can be parked at the back of the parking lot to require more walking. The TV, phone, and computer can be limited, and children should have chores to do. Even when dad is wrestling or “rough-housing” the kids on the floor, they are getting some exercise. I remember when I taught second grade the children in our class planned their own obstacle course. They climbed a 4 ft. wall, leapfrogged over a rock, crawled through a barrel, skipped, hopped, and scissor-stepped back to the starting place. They did this at recess, but a similar course could be made at home.

The key is to keep the children moving and not let them sit around too much. Family picnics at holiday times provide a wonderful opportunity for the entire family to be involved in games that provide exercise.

 

 

 

Can we Prepare our Children for Future America?

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It is a very short time until our children will be grown and voting citizens.  Are we adequately preparing them for that time?  America has changed a great deal in recent years and is changing every day.

Our children have much they will need to deal with very soon.  They will need to learn to live in a very racially diversified nation.  They will live in a nation even more in debt than at the moment.  They will enjoy even more technology, but at the same time, that technology makes enemies nearer.  The Pacific and Atlantic oceans will no longer be the great shields they have been in the past.

With people streaming across our borders, we must face the fact that many will probably remain here whether or not we would wish it so.  They will compete for jobs and affect the way our schools teach. They will practice their own religion, or no religion.  They may bring diseases our country has never dealt with before.  Border agents tell us that they are being occupied with the illegals while drug cartels send more drugs across the border.  This means the use of more drugs in society.  In many areas of the country, the white race is already a minority.  Children will need to accept other races of people and hopefully do so without giving up Christian principles.

The debt of our nation is mind-boggling.  We are becoming more and more vulnerable to those nations from whom we are borrowing money.  Not only that, we can no longer afford to wage war as we have been able to do, nor do we have the money to help others as in the past.  Social programs have been continuing as our nation borrows and prints more money.  Some of those programs may have to stop.  This means that our children must be educated in such a way as to get jobs to be self-supporting; yet, many of those jobs are not available nor will they be available anytime soon, it would seem, unless something is done immediately.  Our children will possibly have to do without much that they now enjoy.  They will need to learn the difference between needs and wants and how to use money wisely.

The power grids in certain parts of our country have already experienced cyber attacks. Technology is such, even now, that people overseas can hack into our computers and steal our personal information.  Certain countries have sworn to wipe us off the face of the map with missiles or bombs that can reach us.

Not a pretty picture for our children!!  What can we do to prepare them?  The truth is that we cannot totally prepare them. What we can do is to give them a good Spiritual foundation by teaching the Scripture and the value of the Bible and prayer.  We must give them a good basic education and help them become problem-solvers.  We need to teach them to stand their ground in a loving way.  They must learn to be thrifty, hard workers, and resourceful.  They cannot do this and always be comfortable.  They must learn to sacrifice self pleasure when the situation warrants doing so.

What a task we have as adults to prepare our children for future America!