This past week our exercise science class took a trip to Jack Mackenzie elementary school to observe and interact with a class of grade threes. The purpose of the trip was to see the biomechanics of young people and note the different developmental levels of children at this age.
It was very interesting to see the wide range of abilities in children this age. There were literally children who could not perform the task at each station (each station corresponded with one of ten basic movement patterns) and children who looked like they could do it in their sleep.
One station that, in particular, stood out to me, was the one where we were testing the kids balance. The group of kids I was working with had two girls and two boys. The girls excelled at balancing on an upside down Bosu Ball while the boys had obvious issues. When talking with the kids I found the one girl that outshone the others markedly, is a dancer. Her exceptional balance makes sense, because balance and control are two basic body movements that dance hones. The other female in our group participates in a variety of physical activities such as basketball and soccer. In contrast the two boys in our group don’t do much for physical activity. I believe this shows that being active as a young person helps advance motor control.
I believe this diversity in ability stems from two things. First of all, the size of the child. People grow at different rates, we can’t help that, I do believe it can play a fundamental role in a youths motor skill development. Second, the amount of physical activity the child does. A kid who sits on the couch every day is not going to be on the same level as a child who plays sports every night of the week.
So the question is, what as a society can we do for the children who aren’t advancing at a normal speed for basic developmental skills? Our schools help children who aren’t advancing in math why shouldn’t we do this for physical activity? I believe that schools should have a bigger role in this development. Get physical education specialists in every school, still make phys ed fun, but not just dodgeball every day. I also believe that children should be active outside of school. I know for some this is not possible or they are not motivated to, but I truly believe that it would help.
Julie's Exercise Science 