- Name: Le Thi Truong Giang
- Word count: 395 words
On hearing the words of extracurricular activities, some people react somewhat
negatively. They say that students have to take all their time to focus on studying
instead of participating in school clubs, competing in sports, or doing volunteer work.
However, those activities can bring some beneficial experiences and necessary
development to students if they manage their time effectively to balance between
schoolwork and after-school activities. Generally, there are two positive effects of
extracurricular activities on students, including mental and physical health.
First of all, engagement in extracurricular activities contributes to enhancing
mental well-being, especially social and emotional growth. These activities offer
favorable opportunities for students to meet and cooperate with peers who share
similar interests to work together and achieve many common goals. Moreover, they
can build lasting friendships to continue supporting each other in both studying and
personal life. Being part of a team or club also allows students to boost their
self-esteem and confidence when they show their own perspectives, debate some
issues, or make decisions in a leadership role. Nevertheless, they should learn to
manage emotions to avoid unnecessary arguments among members and develop
resilience whenever unfortunately encountering failure.
Ultimately, extracurricular activities are instrumental in promoting physical
health in some cases. Specifically, by playing sports regularly, the health and strength
of students are improved day by day. For instance, swimming is a good way to help
people keep their healthy weight, lungs, and heart, tone up muscles, strengthen the
immune system, etc. Another example is yoga which lets people not only get slim and
build their endurance, but it also makes people feel peaceful and relaxed. Furthermore,
most people believe that physical activities provide quality sleep, which is very
supportive for long-term memory. Additionally, when students experience any feelings
of stress and anxiety, they can stay active by diverting their attention to engaging in
physical activities. The more they exercise, the more their energy is refilled. It also
means that physical health is getting better.
Overall, extracurricular activities offer students a multitude of positive effects
that break the limitations of closed classrooms. Students can improve social and
emotional growth and physical health problems. Governments and schools should
continue to prioritize and support extracurricular activities such as investing money to
build facilities, arranging reasonable class schedules, or organizing annual activities,
ensuring that students have many occasions to explore their interests and thrive
holistically.
