Sportsmanship is a virtue that must be possessed by every individual on this Earth to become a well-rounded individual. Parents have the responsibility of teaching their children to be a sport at all times for them to be able to learn from their difficult experiences. In the home, there is always that situation that commands one to be a sport. There are what we call formal and informal competitions that always dictates one be a sport when not successful in an endeavor.
Simple situations may suddenly arise that always tests how parents and children handle such situations, thus, as the front liners in nurturing children, parents should always avoid taking sides once there is some competition among their children to avoid inculcating in them the wrong behavior and values that may affect their personality when they go out into society. We parents should always remind our children to readily admit that he or she could not be like what he or she wants to if he will not be able to hurdle the stringent challenges that will confront them on their way to success.
What is important for them to understand at a young age is to learn from their mistakes and not to repeat the same mistakes. We must also inculcate into their minds the importance of wise decision-making when confronted by challenges along the way. Like in their studies, there are instances where they could not respond to their teachers primarily because they did not actually study and internalize their lessons. Reading is far different from understanding and internalizing that is why let us allow our children to experience failures while they are young and let us use their failures as the motivation for them to strive for what they desire to be.
Sportsmanship is not only for sports competitions but it is applicable to all aspects of life. Let us try to mold our children to be mindful of what will happen to them in the future, to know how to accept a setback in their younger years. Let us nurture them to be independent while adhering to the important values which they could use in climbing the ladder of success.
Success is always earned the hard and difficult ay. Nothing is given to anyone in a silver platter. It is best for our children to treasure their success through the difficulties that confront them in their younger years because it will speak to them once they are exposed to the real challenges of life in the real world.
By Noemi C. Ingson
