when i read the topic, i had a hard time deciphering the
acronym. first i thought it was Tengeh Air Field. took me a while
to guess it's trim and fit (hope i didn't get it wrong).
anyway during my time we never had such clubs. guess times are
different now. we eat better and we eat more so obesity has become
an issue. the fact that the ministry goes through all these trouble
to shape our kids up goes to show that they do care, at least from
the policy point of view. a healthy lifestyle is best inculcated
from young. if it cannot be done from home, the next best place
would be the school.
having said that, kids nowadays are a lot more sophisticated then
they used to be, so the good old "do as you're told" methodology
apparently does not work as well anymore. so perhaps we can
approach the issue slightly differently.
1. get them interested in sports
we can expose them to a few sports and along the way if they find
something that they like or suits them, they will naturally do more
of that (those) sport(s). exercise / trimming / keeping fit then
creases to be a chore but becomes fun and enjoyable. instead of
exasperating ourselves and making them miserable, they become self
motivated and we sit back and appreciate / encourage their
progress.
2. glamorise sports
when something becomes hip, that something is chased after by the
kids and teenagers. i know it's kind of hard to glamorise such
things as badminton or tennis but really it can be done. have
inter-class competitions. let the competitions be held in front of
the whole school. let the champs be put on a pedestal like a hero
for fellow kids to emulate ...
3. make them understand
unlike in the army where everything is complied to unquestioningly,
for kids, especially when they're going through pain, it's easy to
forget about the purpose or the goal. adolescence is the time of
raging hormones which is the source of powerful energies or
impulses that would be best channeled into sports.
sports is something you enjoy for life. you feel the exhilaration
of speed when you're coming round the bend, the rush of adrenaline
when diving to retrieve the shuttle, the breezy swooshes around
your face when you're slicing through air, the spirit and
comaraderie of team sports which build character ...
later on in life, it becomes a topic for conversation, a bond
between friends, an occasion for you to meet new people and even
possibly your future spouse, employer, customer, lucky star
...
be it for the love of sports or a genuine desire to become trim and
fit, staying fit and healthy also means that you will look good,
which in turn affects such things as your image, the confidence you
carry with yourself which in turn affects your popularity and
basically shapes your destiny.
4. do something else
if running is too tough, then perhaps they can start off with
aerobic or mass exercises in the hall.
