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| 5th Annual PEAR Conference The Whole Child, The Whole Day Lunch Session Notes: Afterschool in Action - Sports and Movement What is an appropriate level of competitiveness for programs? - Avoid values focused on winning and losing - Competition can be healthy to the extent that it teaches children to have goals and to work towards achieving those goals How soon should youth be engaged in sports? - It is important for programs to reach out to children in elementary schools What programs have had success in engaging young people? - Peace Games: Activities-based learning - Special Olympics: Unified sports programs for disabled and non-disabled youth - YMCA Framington: Youth wellness program What are different ways in which to engage young people? - Program for overweight children that introduces them to a variety of sports in hopes they will be drawn to one or more of them - Olympics-style program that celebrates character traits such as encouragement and sharing as well as success in the activities What values are embedded in sports? - Goal setting - Relationship building - Consistency - Rules and standards What can you do when children turn to you for support in relation to their mental health? - Training coaches/mentors is crucial - Roundtable discussions within your own program staff and across similar program staffs can help - Also important to take into account the coaches/mentors needs for their own lives beyond work - Allying with families, neighborhoods, community members, and teachers is important, particularly when sports blurs into counseling What other challenges do programs face? - Resources, specifically transportation - Training in conflict resolution, to help train kids to work out their problems in a constructive manner |
CONFERENCES |
5th Annual PEAR Conference |