Turning the Television Sports Season into an Activity that Children and Parents can Share
Each hectic summer, television sporting enthusiasts look forward to an endless and all-star lineup of major league baseball, the NBA finals, the U.S. Open, and once every four years, World Cup football. Lazy summers have long since been replaced by energetic ones with the whole family crowding before the flatscreen (where's the point calling it the tube anymore?) and cheering for their favorite team of the season. And through all of this all the energy in the air and the fist pumping all the adults indulge in make television sports experiences a really exciting place to be for children. Is it a good idea children and parents watching events on TV together though? Do we need to rethink our whole screentime regulations for sports season? The hing with the summer sports season is that with school out for themonth, a little time wasted watching TV doesn't really seem like that big a deal. It's an exciting season if you love sports - why not cut the kids a break?
That actually would be a good argument; letting the children watch what is a somewhat unwholesome amount of sports on TV could, reasonably, be deemed to be a healthy family activity. Still when children and parents gather before the telly over the next series of matches, there are some issues (opportunities, really) that you need to be aware of.
Your kids need to have their love of sports and television gently animated for them; if they don't quite get the hang of the reason people watch television sports just yet, take the opportunity to inspire them by setting an example of refined sports enjoyment yourself; there really isn't a hurry.
The day after an important sporting event, do you usually see kids on the street trying out the moves that their favorite sporting legends used on TV in a game the previous night? Children love to imitate, and each sporting spectacle set out before them each evening has loads of great moves children love to latch onto. Give them a great forum playing the sport a bit with them; it could be a basketball hoop in the backyard or a street to kick a ball around on. It's a great way for children and parents to experience a shared moment.
As Winston Churchill said, magnanimity in victory and defiance in defeat are the emotions of a proud and sompetent player. Sports is a great way to show your children the value of sportsmanlike behavior in someone who wins, and the pitifulness of poor behavior in someone who loses. You want to use the opportunity to set an example yourself over how one is supposed to react to tough situations, to defeat and to a challenge - by the way you react to your team's fortunes. This is the reason why sports is supposed to be so important to a child - sports allows a child to play life out in the microcosm of the field. It used to be a great way to help a child build character. You could help it be that again.
Any activity these days that allows children and parents to come together in a shared experience of something larger than themselves is a great deal; if it is something like sports that can inspire so much passion, then so much the better. It is all up to the parent how the opportunity comes to be exploited. Just as long as no one lets the children watch the commercials.