Belgrade – On the occasion of the 24 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Assembly of the United Nations, Child Rights Centre wants to draw public attention to the role and influence that parents have to involvement of children in sports activities. The Convention on the Rights of the Child in its article 31 guarantees the right of the child to rest and leisure time, to play and recreational activities appropriate to their age. Practice of sport is healthy and desirable for psychological and physical development of children, and has great educational potential for adopting correct values. As children learn most easily through the game, and therefore through the sport, Child Rights Centre suggests parents to carefully choose how to support their child to play sports.
According to data from researches conducted, the majority of young athletes independently opted for the sport. However, over 20% of youth (every fifth respondent) began to play a sport under the influence of their parents who have a generally positive attitude towards sport, recognise and appreciate its educational potential and understand the physical, social and personal well-being for children and youth that may have by playing the sports.
Sports psychologist Vladimir Kitanović from the Institute of Sports and Sports Medicine of the Republic of Serbia explains how parents should be towards their children when it comes to sports:
Parents should be optimally involved in sporting life of the child. The primary role of parents is to provide children with primarily emotional support. The child should be helped to cope with the victories and defeats, to develop sportsmanship, value cooperation and team objectives and respect other actors in the sport.
The Child Rights Centre representatives say that children learn best by example, and parents should strive to be a positive role models and promoters of healthy habits and physical activity. Through open and honest communication with a child it should be learnt and understood what their motives for sports are, whether they are satisfied with their current sport experience and results and give them support. Parents need to be realistic in their expectations and to support children in their sports activities for fun, enjoyment, proper growth, development and education.
Child Rights Centre started a project “Prevention and Protection of Children and Youth from Violence in Sports – Score in the Spirit of the Sport” funded by Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights programme. The project is being implemented in the Republic of Serbia during period 17 April 2013 – 17 April 2014. The project should contribute to the improvement of the system of prevention and protection of youth athletes from violence in sports environment, as well as to bring to the solutions and models that should help children playing sports in a safe and motivating manner by involving coaches, youth athletes and parents.
