Children should do organised activities while others believe children should be free to do what they want. Your opinion?

Question

Children should do organised activities in their free time while others believe children should be free to do what they want. Discuss both views and give your opinion?

Answer 1

Recently, whether kids should spend their leisure time on available extra activities or not remains a controversial phenomenon. Although its benefits are considerable, they are still overshadowed by the advantages of letting teenagers choose the activities they want to engage in. This essay will explain some reasons supporting my view.

On the one hand, it is beneficial for children to join in those activities. Firstly, it can be an ideal place with safety policies for teenagers to develop. These campaigns are required careful preparation, which can help children avoid some unfortunate accidents that they may suffer if they do it by themselves. As a result, children can fully concentrate on the activities without noticing any danger around them. Secondly, their social networking will probably be improved. There is a myriad of participants, who can be the same age as these children; thus, there will be a higher opportunity for the adolescents to expose to other people. Therefore, thanks to these exposures to a wide range of personalities and thoughts of others, they can have a new outlook on the world.

On the other hand, I strongly believe that children could reap various benefits by giving freedom to them. To begin, it could be a good time for children to form independence, which is an extremely crucial virtue to survive in modern society. When they are in charge of deciding to join somewhere by themselves, they would realise their responsibilities for that action. Hence, they would gradually be more decisive and responsible for each thing in their future lives without depending on their parents. Furthermore, letting children do whatever they want in their leisure time could make them feel more elated. Compared to the planned activities that might not be the kid’s interest, which results in the tedious feelings and hesitation when joining in. Consequently, the activities that they choose would bring excitement to them, creating the motivation for them to engage in their chosen activities.

In summary, it could be beneficial for teenagers when joining in either school activities or their favourite ones. However, in my view, having more freedom could be an optimum way for the children to develop in their future.

 

Answer 2

It is believed by some that organizing leisure activities is essential for children. The alternative view is that they should have the freedom to do activities of their choice. Personally, I agree with the former view because of the immense benefits this approach offers, although there are some caveats for parents to take into consideration.

 

On the one hand, the main rationale behind organizing children’s activities is that it ensures they reap the true benefits of the chosen activities. For many activities, it is important for participants to overcome initial setbacks. For example, learning to play the guitar entails practicing seemingly monotonous drills and enduring finger pains and mental frustration. Only after this stage can learners play more sophisticated songs. This struggle at the beginning is more likely to be overcome with a degree of organization in one’s schedule. Indeed, many accomplished musicians have to practice, following strict routines throughout their childhood, without which it can be difficult to advance beyond the surface level. 

 

On the other hand, there are also those who believe in total freedom for children’s free time. They argue that organized activities if chosen by parents without concerning the child’s interest, can lead to resentment, which might be counter-productive. An example of this is the Vietnamese parents who force their children to learn the piano, despite their dislike. These parents hope that this particular instrument will help their children develop their musicality and enjoy this art form. However, many children later describe their piano lessons as nightmares and carry this stigma into adulthood. If instead, they are given freedom over what instrument to learn, the scenario described above might be averted.

 

In conclusion, I believe organized activities are highly beneficial as long as the participants are involved in the decision-making process.