Many people hold the view that extracurricular activities ought to be provided by schools. However, others believe that schools should focus on teaching academic knowledge to children. From my perspective, while I agree that there are several beneficial impacts of teaching academic knowledge to children, I am in favor of the notion that the merits of attending extracurricular activities would eclipse the aforementioned advantages.
On the one hand, it is undeniable that children should concentrate mainly on academic learning. First and foremost, learning academic knowledge greatly affects children’s career prospects. This is because when children focus on studying academic knowledge, they can gain more domain-specific knowledge related to many fields, which leads to an increase in the ability to have stable jobs or jobs that enable children to earn a high salary or wage in the future. As a result, this means that it can bring various positive effects on children’s career prospects in the future. For example, children, thanks to the large amount of specialized knowledge that they gain, can have sufficient knowledge to be qualified for several jobs, such as an accountant or a teacher, which has salary and wage at a high level.
Despite the aforementioned benefits, I still believe that the advantages of participating in extracurricular activities would eclipse the merits of focusing mainly on academic learning. Firstly, extracurricular activities have a great effect on children’s overall experiences and skills. Unlike academic learning, extracurricular activities contain a plethora of activities. By attending these activities, children can develop overall experience and skills such as problem-solving skills. Moreover, another advantage of taking part in extracurricular activities is that children’s mental health will benefit from these activities. Extracurricular activities are activities which are interesting and compelling for children, which help them feel relaxed and comfortable. As a result, this allows them to release the dopamine that makes them feel good, resulting in the fact that it can bring several beneficial effects on the mental health of children.
To recapitulate, there are several benefits of focusing mainily on academic learning. However, I still believe that the merits of taking part in extracurricular activities would escilpe the aforementioned advantages.