Why is this? What can be done to encourage more young people to do sports?
Band 9 IELTS essay sample
Nowadays, very few youngsters engage in a physical sport. This is mainly due to their addiction to digital devices such as smartphones, laptops and gaming consoles. Making sport a mandatory part of the school programs, building more sports facilities and creating awareness about the benefits of playing are some of the ways to encourage children and young adults to play a sport.
Young people spend a lot of time on their smartphones and computers these days. Due to the advent of the internet, phones and computers now provide all sorts of knowledge and entertainment. Youngsters, for instance, can watch a movie, play a computer game and chat with their friends using their smartphone. As the internet provides them with lots of opportunities to keep themselves entertained for hours on end, they feel absolutely no inclination to play an outdoor sport. Before computers and smartphones reached every nook and corner of the world, fewer entertainment options were available to young people. Hence, when they got free time or when they felt bored, they would go out and play with their friends. This situation has changed. Also, many people have highly stressful jobs. Due to increased competition, they are forced to work long hours. Consequently, they lack the energy to play games when they get home. On Sundays when they do not have to go to work, they would rather catch up on their sleep than play a game.
Unfortunately, this sedentary lifestyle has affected young people’s health. Lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and even cancer are now common among people in their 30’s or 40’s. Creating awareness about the benefits of playing a physical sport will certainly help. The government should also make sports and games a compulsory part of school education. Children who play a sport are more likely to continue that habit in their adulthood as well. Another solution is to build more sports facilities. Lack of open playgrounds is one reason that prevents urban children from playing. The government has to improve the situation by allocating more land and resources for building community sports centres.
To put it in a nut shell, youngsters are reluctant to play a sport these days because they have access to other forms of entertainment. Making young people aware of the importance of getting physically active is the most effective solution to this problem. Another solution is to make sports compulsory at school. Building more sports facilities that everyone can access will also help.
