‘A sound mind in a sound body’ is an ideal well expressed. So you cannot have a sound mind without a sound body. Arid for a sound body, physical exercise is a necessity. Games give us a lot of exercise and so help us a good deal in forming our body and mind.
Games are necessary after hard work. They provide us with the necessary relaxation after the dull routine of our daily life. ‘All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.’ So games are as necessary as work.
There are both outdoor games and indoor games. Badminton, tennis, hockey, football, cricket, volleyball, kabaddi, wrestling, jumping, races, etc., are some of the outdoor games which are generally played by schoolboys all over the world.
The most obvious use of games is in connection with physical health. Games strengthen the muscles, expand the lungs and make our body strong and fit. They impart us vitality and strength. They give us pluck and courage.
Besides making the mind and body strong, games help to foster in us virtues of obedience, discipline and team spirit. All the players learn to obey the captain of the team, and observe the rules of the games. They also learn the ‘team spirit’, for each player has to realize that he must efface himself for the good of his team. It requires great discipline and self-denial on the part of a player to pass the ball on to his fellow player and forgo the glory of scoring a goal for himself. One has to play the game not for oneself hut for the whole team. In this way, every player comes to imbibe esprit de corps or ‘team spirit’.
But games can be abused too. Carried to excess, they may harm instead of improving one’s health. Sometimes a hard hit strikes the bone and leaves it broken for good or a strong kick at football dislocates one’s knee. So there is a grave risk of physical injury in playing manly games like football, hockey and cricket which can however be avoided in such games as tennis, badminton, volleyball and basketball.
Again, unhealthy rivalry between two teams or two players often leads to unpleasantness and sometimes causes disputes and thus produces ‘bad blood’ between the parties. Thus, the whole purpose of games is lost. To avoid this, true sportsmanlike spirit should be cultivated among boys. They must learn always to play the game fair, never to take a mean advantage of their opponents’ weakness, lose the game with a smile, and never, never sulk at all when defeated.
Timid boys who are afraid of manly games and are shy of taking part in active games sometimes take to indoor games like chess, bridge, ludo, draughts. carrom and table-tennis.
In these games, no risk of physical injury is involved. They afford very little physical activity and provide recreation only to the mind. Moreover, they sometime absorb too much of our time and interfere with our profession or work in life.
So indulgence in indoor games must be avoided. Outdoor games should be preferred to indoor games, as the former not only afford us mental recreation but also provide us with the necessary physical activity which keeps our body going and help us to counteract ill health and guard against disease.
Games are necessary after hard work. They provide us with the necessary relaxation after the dull routine of our daily life. ‘All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.’ So games are as necessary as work.
There are both outdoor games and indoor games. Badminton, tennis, hockey, football, cricket, volleyball, kabaddi, wrestling, jumping, races, etc., are some of the outdoor games which are generally played by schoolboys all over the world.
The most obvious use of games is in connection with physical health. Games strengthen the muscles, expand the lungs and make our body strong and fit. They impart us vitality and strength. They give us pluck and courage.
Besides making the mind and body strong, games help to foster in us virtues of obedience, discipline and team spirit. All the players learn to obey the captain of the team, and observe the rules of the games. They also learn the ‘team spirit’, for each player has to realize that he must efface himself for the good of his team. It requires great discipline and self-denial on the part of a player to pass the ball on to his fellow player and forgo the glory of scoring a goal for himself. One has to play the game not for oneself hut for the whole team. In this way, every player comes to imbibe esprit de corps or ‘team spirit’.
But games can be abused too. Carried to excess, they may harm instead of improving one’s health. Sometimes a hard hit strikes the bone and leaves it broken for good or a strong kick at football dislocates one’s knee. So there is a grave risk of physical injury in playing manly games like football, hockey and cricket which can however be avoided in such games as tennis, badminton, volleyball and basketball.
Again, unhealthy rivalry between two teams or two players often leads to unpleasantness and sometimes causes disputes and thus produces ‘bad blood’ between the parties. Thus, the whole purpose of games is lost. To avoid this, true sportsmanlike spirit should be cultivated among boys. They must learn always to play the game fair, never to take a mean advantage of their opponents’ weakness, lose the game with a smile, and never, never sulk at all when defeated.
Timid boys who are afraid of manly games and are shy of taking part in active games sometimes take to indoor games like chess, bridge, ludo, draughts. carrom and table-tennis.
In these games, no risk of physical injury is involved. They afford very little physical activity and provide recreation only to the mind. Moreover, they sometime absorb too much of our time and interfere with our profession or work in life.
So indulgence in indoor games must be avoided. Outdoor games should be preferred to indoor games, as the former not only afford us mental recreation but also provide us with the necessary physical activity which keeps our body going and help us to counteract ill health and guard against disease.
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