The crucial balancing act between education and physical activity

28 Oct The crucial balancing act between education and physical activity

I often hear two types of groaning parents, one group says, “My child does not show interest in math, she always wants to be on the basketball court.” The other group says, “My child is always in her room fiddling with academic work, she doesn’t even go for a walk!”

However, according to a Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) survey conducted in 2017, almost 60 percent of the respondents strongly agree that more emphasis is given to education than to sports in India. I feel this is because people believe that there are fewer career opportunities in physical activities compared to academics. People often do not realize that there are great career opportunities in the field of sports like Sports physiotherapy, Sports journalism, etc. That being said, a study from the University of Illinois supports the often repeated theory that showed that children who are physically fit are more likely to perform better in school and achieve higher grades.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe that physical activities and education are not just for a better career or grades but also a must for a healthy and rich lifestyle.

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” –  James Howell or we could look at it as “All play and no work makes Jack a dull boy”

It is important to stay interconnected between education and physical activity because working all day or playing all day is… boring, leave alone unhealthy physically and mentally! For developing a healthy lifestyle, being healthy both mentally and physically are important. Moreover, to achieve a healthy lifestyle, both academics and physical activities is essential to keep you relaxed and balanced. This balance not only distracts you from the digital world but also there are chances of it distracting you from negative thoughts, since as the saying goes, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”

In my school, Sharanya Narayani International School, one of the top residential IB World schools in Bangalore, we, IBDP students have opportunities to balance our education and physical activity through one of the core elements of IBDP, which is CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service).

Moreover, students have great facilities for both education and physical activities. We are blessed with an incredibly massive 60 acre sprawling campus with state of the art indoor and outdoor sports facility and infrastructure. We have a huge cricket field and football field, a full size basketball court, two full sized tennis courts and two badminton courts, all laid out in synthetic turfs, a sand volleyball court, and a half Olympic size swimming pool. We also have an impressive indoor sports facility as well with table tennis, squash, archery, caroms, chess and even yoga and meditation facilities.

In SNIS, we are taught and encouraged to believe that education includes developing skills like building team spirit, loyalty, commitment, losing gracefully, showing sportsmanship and not backing away from hard work which in turn helps us with our academic growth as well and helps us develop into well rounded human beings.

The balance between academics and physical activities is very important in the current post Covid19 situation.

Although there are enough options to juggle education and physical activities, physical activities however do not only mean sports or cycling, but dancing, jogging, and yoga could also be considered as physical activities and these activities can be done at home. Even simple activities like walking or doing household chores come under physical activity.

It is very important in the current situation to stay relaxed and work and I feel that managing the time between studying and physical activities would be of great help. Maintaining a balance between academics and physical activities might seem difficult but it is not impossible.

There is one particular strategy that works for me! Figure out a physical activity and your favorite subject, try to combine both for a balance. For example, I like dancing and my favorite subject is Computer Science, so, I try to design an animated video of myself dancing using the subject techniques! According to a study by Sports Medicine Weekly, combining both education and extracurricular activities makes studying interesting. Moreover, planning and using time accordingly also helps and subsequently aids in time management in other situations.

I believe that balancing education and physical activity prepares you for the coming days. This practice of balancing between academics and physical activities might help you to balance your work life and hobbies in the future.

What strategies do you use to balance education and physical activity?

Akshaya Indumuru

Grade 11 | IBDP

SNIS