Most people feel that competition is an important part of adult life and that children should be exposed to competitive activities at an early age. Write an essay arguing either for or against the statement, “Children should be involved in competition”.
Children should be involved in competition. This proposition is premised on the fact that competitions can help the physical and mental development of children.
Firstly, competitions can foster different abilities of children. Without doubt, competitions can push children to excel in the skills required in the competitions. For instance, a little boy going for a piano competition will for sure practise more to strive for excellence. This will of course enhance his skills in playing the piano.
Besides, other than the specialized skills, competitions can train children’s general skills that can be applied to various situations in the future. Some examples of these general skills are organization skills, problem solving skills and interpersonal skills. These skills will definitely come in handy in school work and even in the work place. Scientific researches show that people living under stress often score higher marks in emotional quotient (EQ) and adversity quotient (AQ) tests. Competitions can provide a suitable amount of stress to children so that they can be more capable in dealing with difficult situations and their own emotions. Competitions can enhance the development of the above qualities which are highly useful and invaluable to children, thus children should be involved in competitions.
Secondly, competitions can broaden the horizons of children. In a competition, children may meet other candidates. They can learn from their competitors and try to improve themselves. If children lose, they can learn from the stronger candidates. If they win, they can avoid making similar mistakes as the weaker ones do. The tough rivalry coming from competitions can also give children an insight of how the adult world works. Children will be more prepared to get into the working place. Moreover, winners of local competitions may have opportunities to go overseas to attend international competitions. Connie Talbot, a very talented young girl, after joining a competition “Britain’s Got Talent” is given dozens of chances to explore the outside world. She has even performed in Hong Kong too. Competitions allow children to be exposed to audience all over the world. This is hugely beneficial to children. Children should not miss any opportunity to participate in different contests.
Last but not least, competitions can help to build friendship. In some competitions that require cooperation in particular, strong bonds between members can be created. For example, volleyball competitions, choir competitions and duologues require members to work together, to practise together and in most cases, these partners become really good friends after competitions. Children can really make friends with their rivals – why not? There is a Chinese saying, “At home, we depend on parents. In the outside world, we depend on friends”. From this saying, we can see that making friends is important and competitions can bridge human relationships, so children should be involved in competition.
Some may say that there is no need to extend the tendrils of competitions to childhood. Children ought to enjoy their time without worries when they are young. I cannot condone these irresponsible sayings. As competitions are only going to be keener in the future, not equipping children with enough skills is equivalent to rendering them unable to take care of themselves later. This spoiling does nothing good to children. Involving children in competition is one of the most promising methods that can make them succeed.
Since competition is very beneficial to children, they should get involved in competitions.