Resilience
About resilience
What makes children resilient?
Characteristics of resilience
Ways to promote resilience
The value of recreational programs
References
Resources
The value of recreational programs
Whether stick handling in hockey, or mastering a dance step, recreational programs give children and adolescents new skills that they can take with them back to the classroom and use as they mature into adulthood. They help young people learn how to cooperate with others, make constructive plans, become persistent in tasks, make commitments to personal and team goals, have confidence in their own abilities, and trust others’ motivations. These skills are those found in resilient people, and they make a difference in one’s ability to cope with daily problems or life crises.
Access to sports and other recreational activities is particularly important for children who are at risk for school failure, mental health problems, or breaking the law. Participation without the stigma of poverty (like having to prove they are so poor they are unable to pay) helps to level the playing field in many ways – by reducing shame experienced by children who feel second best because they lack money for equipment, travel, or lessons; by giving poor children regular contact with middle class children who model higher aspirations; and by broadening their experience by taking them out of their immediate neighborhoods.
A Canadian Parks and Recreation Association National Policy Statement on access to recreation for low-income families states that recreation participation enables children to:
- develop skills and competencies
- be exposed to program leaders and positive adult role models;
- achieve better physical and emotional health;
- develop psychosocial skills;
- improve self-esteem, academic performance, peer and family relationships;
- acquire pro-social values and develop life skills such as leadership, decision-making and problem solving;
- form healthy habits that can be transferred into their adult lives;
- participate, volunteer and take pride in their community; and have fun and be with friends.
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