The Importance of Extracurricular Activities
Imagine walking across the stage in just a few years from now. Having thousands of eyes pointed at you as you take that emotional walk to finally receive your high school diploma. After a few years when you have graduated high school and started life, you're going to look back and think, what have I accomplished so far? Extracurricular activities can be very beneficial for students now, and those in the future as well. They can allow you to feel like you have accomplished something while in school. Extracurricular activities are important because they can benefit a student through personal, educational, and even social means. It is a great idea ...view middle of the document...
It is as if students have less time to engage in trouble when involved with these activities.
While being involved in extracurricular activities outside of school benefits your personal being, it also benefits your education. One of these reasons is because in order to participate in the first place, you can not have failing grades. It has also been proven that students involved in extracurricular activities generally have a higher GPA than those who do not. The College Board stated, “extracurricular activities help you show colleges who you are”. It is said that your personal extracurricular activities can really benefit you on a college application. Colleges expect more than just high grades and test scores, they actually want to see who you are and what you do with your time, because what you do with your free time reveals a person (College Board). Students who participate are also more likely to go to college (Klitsch). It was also described by the WNCN staff (a t.v. news station in North Carolina) during an interview with a college dean that college applications with extracurricular activities triumph over ones without. That could be a great reason to get involved.
Being involved in extracurricular activities can be beneficial educationally as well as socially, too. According to K. Nola Mokeyane in her article on the Global Post news site, having a constructive thing to do can be a major beneficial factor against bad behavior. The students tend to feel a sense of accomplishment because they are making a contribution to something not just for themselves (Burgess). It is also so great that the students can build new relationships and really make some good friends. There are so many different types too, such as sports, clubs, art, music, jobs, volunteering, religious activities and etc that can build relationships through different ways (College Board). Kids can also learn leadership and responsibility skills just by being involved and possibly gaining adult role models (WNCN staff). As stated by Allison Rizzolo in Public Agenda, statistics show that “92% of students say they made good friends in their activity, 86% say they learned a lot, 85% say they usually have a lot of fun, 79% say the adults in charge really cared about the kids, and 79% say it was easy and convenient to get to”. Building relationships is really important in children's lives throughout school, and extracurricular activities can give them a little boost.
Since social skills are also very beneficial to have in life, there are many ways to get students more involved and skilled. Family is very important in getting their kids to participate. It is important that the students have an encouraging family and that they create a supportive environment for their son/daughter (Coulson). The solution to getting kids more involved in extracurricular activities is for the parents to push it. It is very beneficial if the parents give their kids a little push to get them out of the...