Leisure_Activities’_Effect_on_Pacific_Children.

Leisure activities’ effect on Pacific children. Leisure or free time is time spent away from business, school, work or domestic chores. Thus leisure activities are activities done in one’s free time. Leisure activities would include ball sports, board games, computer games, bird watching, origami and many activates which would be carried out tin ones free time. In the Pacific countries and focusing Fiji, leisure activities would vary according to the society one lives in. in the rural areas most leisure activities would include ball sports such as touch rugby and volley ball but moving to urban society the leisure activities focus more on computer and video games. Occasionally children play touch rugby and soccer. Using Fiji as the focus of this essay, it will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of leisure activities of Pacific children. Firstly leisure activities play an important part in the health of a pacific island child. Children of the pacific on average weigh up to 60 kilograms when they reach the age of twelve, (The State of Pacific Children UNICEF/SPC, 1993). A way these children can overcome the weight gain is by playing ball sports. In Fiji it is seen that in rural village’s children who are twelve years of age weigh less than those living in urban areas, (The State of Pacific Children: 1993). This is the result of more time spent on games that involves running and jumping which is a form of exercise that keeps the children fit. Mantel health is also positively affected by leisure activities. These activities would include scrabble, crosswords and Sudoku. In Fiji children in urban areas have excess to such board games and this improves on their spelling, grammar or vocabulary and mathematics. Children who use their leisure time paling board games on average know more than 100,000 different words, (contra cost times: 2004). In addition leisure activities help Pacific children socially. Children in the pacific especially in Fiji love to play in teams. Playing in teams can also mean that one has to lead and others have to follow, so in a team the captain will have to lead and this develops ones leadership capabilities. Leisure activities such as rubgy and soccer also involve interaction with people. In a Fijian village a game of touch rugby will strengthen the bond between the children of that village and promote good sportsmanship. Playing an online game such as Rune Scape will allow one to interact with children for other parts of the country and even other regions. Inviting a neighbor over for a game of play station three or rugby world cup will help strengthen ones relationship with ones neighbor. The Pacific children especially here in Fiji they make friends more easily while playing sports. Further more leisure activities also help a child develop talent. In Fiji during school hours children are given free time. In this free time they are allowed to go out and play sports, this free time is known as sports period. But prior to the sports period the children undergo physical education or PE, where they are taught about different sports. During this free time in school children with talents are able to showcase their capabilities. Leisure activities help develops one’s talent. In Fiji and the pacific community as a whole many children and young people have natural talents and these talents are enhanced when they participate in leisure activities. However with the advantage comes the disadvantage. Leisure activities can have negative impacts on a child; this could be in the form of education, health and expenses. Equally leisure activities have a negative effect on children’s education. In Fiji after school children are allowed to play sports and computer games for certain hours. This can become abused by the children, the child will want to spend more time playing and this is neglecting school work. Too much computer games can make a child loose focus and make a child spend every free time in font of the TV set or sitting in front of a computer. School work will become neglected and sometimes may not even be done. Secondly with the introduction of computer games and gadgets more time is spent on them and less time on running around or playing outside. This will increase the rate af obesity in the pacific. Children of today prefer to sit on the computer for hours playing games. They spend most of their free time on computer and this will have a negative effect on the Childs weight. Study has shown that children who sit on computer during free time are more obese than those that go out and play games, (The State of Pacific Children: 1993). Finally leisure activities cost money nowadays. To play a sport one must pay money, in the past going to play tennis in ones free time cost only a dollar but nowadays it costs five dollars. All or if not all leisure activities have become a money making initiative. To attend the gym in ones free time one has to become a member. For children to enjoy a game of soccer, chess and many other games the child must join a club. This is obvious in the urban areas; in rural area playing sports is also expensive. To enjoy a good game of volley ball they will need a proper ball and net and these are expensive to purchase. Most children in villages around Fiji like playing the sport in their free time but because they might not be able to afford the ball or a net the children will do other things like running around the village and making noise disrupting the older peoples work. In conclusion leisure activities may be beneficial to a child it can also have its negative impact on them. So leisure activities are good but they should only be carried out during free time in order to maintain balance in the child’s life. 941 words