Benefits of Co-Curricular Activities Essay

Everyone knows about co-curricular. What some of us don’t know about curriculum is that curriculum is as a body of knowledge to be transmitted, it is also as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students – product, plus it is as a process and it is as praxis(Mark K. Smith 1996, 2000). It gave many benefits to a wide range of students and it may help them in many ways. It is also a part of education where it is held outdoors or indoors. Co-curricular activities are optional and pursued outside the classroom to enrich the course syllabi. They are meant to complement and not interfere with the studies. Some say that it is does intervene with studies but there are many researches which state the benefits of co-curricular activities. This includes improving our health, increasing self motivation and build skills among students. Firstly, co-curricular activities can improve our health mentally, psychologically, and emotionally. It is good for our mental health because if we do exercise regularly, it regulates blood to the brain. Furthermore, it can encourage the body to generate and also for our heart to pump the blood actively, not only to the related organs but especially the brain. The brain needs more energy when focusing on a specific task. Additional activities stimulate work for both sides of the brains. Each side of the brain is responsible for processing different types of thoughts. Students in general are exposed to logical thinking during their studies, which is processed by the left side of the brain. By doing outdoor activities, the brain will be stimulated to creative thinking, which is processed by the right side of the brain (Zimmer C., 2005). Healthy body leads to a healthy environment. The students will be more comfortable working in a clean, fresh and hygienic environment, and students will take it to the state of mind subconsciously. A healthy physique leads to higher endurance. A well known fact is that muscle is built with vigorous activities. These activities can build the potential for the body to sustain longer periods of work and the end result is higher endurance. It can lead to a healthier mind. For example, outdoor activities expose the mind to a different environment. In other words, it may improve the state of mind to multiple scenarios and also broaden the scope of thinking because various activities may expose mind. As a result, it can help them to prevent a dull state of thinking. Exercise teaches students to channel emotions into productive activities. With stressful conditions and pressure arising from studies, students need a healthy way of discharging these emotions. For example problems faced by students such as in studies, it can be overcome by the activities that they have experienced and learned from curriculum. More over, emotionally it may help students releasing their tension by making new friends. They also can share their problems, learn how to overcome it, learn how to socialize and learn to be more confident. Activities that they joined do not serve as a temporary distraction for emotional problems. Conversely, it gives a total solution for emotional problems because curriculum can help divert a student from this harmful state. Secondly, it can help to raise self motivation, such as self expression, self confidence and self esteem. Self expression is a kind of motivation that can encourage students to express their thoughts. Students are in an environment to openly convey their opinion generally. Co-curricular activities also encourage students to speak up and contribute to an existing idea or topic. Students can revise, rethink and add to an existing subject on hand. It also creates self confidence among students because it can teach students to differentiate between right or wrong. In 2004, it was found that the participation of students in co curricular activities was only 56 per cent of secondary schools students involved in uniformed units. (Chok Suat Ling, 2007).So, in these cases, to build confidence about benefits of co-curricular among students is really important. It is because some situations may put the students in the wrong information about co- curricular activities but when they are already participate they will have the opportunity to learn from these mistakes. Otherwise, self confidence can give the students the opportunity to have faith in others. Sometimes responsibility is not delegated to the student, and in these cases the student must trust their colleagues. Besides, students will be motivated by having self esteem in their life. Self esteem can teach students to believe in themselves. Students will have confidence in their own choices especially when people don’t trust them. It also can teach students not to fear or to be de-motivated by rejection. Students will almost always face rejection, though they must not be provoked in these circumstances. Self respect teaches students to fully respect their decision and thoughts. When a student shows respect for choices they have made, others around them in turn will also learn to respect them. It also encourage students not be second judging their own decisions. Most students face the dilemma of second judging their choices, especially when the odds are against them. By doing co curriculum activities, students are encouraged to have faith in the choices they make. Thirdly, it can build the skills such as social skills, leading skills, and teamwork skills. In social skills, it gives students the opportunity to socialize with other peoples. For example, in outdoor activities, students are exposed to a larger crowd. Here they can mingle with their peers. Besides, it teaches students the basics of communication skills. Communication skills can teach student about networking and building contacts. Students may meet people out of their circle of friends and learn to meet new people. Students are given the chance to lead groups. When groups are formed, a student may be given the chance to take responsibility as a leader. This is usually seen in group related activities. Students will learn how to take responsibility for their group’s choices .When leading such groups, students learned to be liable for the group’s actions, whether the outcome is good or bad. It can also teach students how to cooperate with one another when they are in a group. It is important for the members to get along and discover that working together is the key to success. For example, they will get a good presentation if they work with each other and also give their own opinions while they have discussion. Finally, curricular activities may teach students how to compromise between ideas and suggestions. Sometimes a student’s contribution or idea may clash with a team member’s. Students must learn to give and take mistakes between group members. These skills may prepare a student practically in future especially when they work. In conclusion, co-curricular activities have been proven to have much positive benefits for students in various aspects. Students not only gain benefits through these activities, but also amplify their self enthusiasm. Furthermore, it may also increase their range of lifelong skills, hence it is a definite must in a student’s life.