WITH THE ENDING of the school term, the Catholic Education Office organised a special activity at the end of June by inviting 99 diocesan schools to take part in a charity activity—skipping rope to encourage students to keep themselves strong and fit, and develop a healthy lifestyle. It also was also a call to work for a charitable cause by raising funds for church building and development.
Why skipping rope? The benefactor of the event, the Diocesan Fund-raising Commission for Church Building and Development, explained that the equipment for is relatively simple, participants can practise on their own and the venue requirements are not high. As a sport, it helps with the development of coordination and spatial awareness, improves cardiovascular health and aids in brain development.
This fun event undoubtedly made up for a disruptive year for the students who were affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The commencement of classes was postponed last September, followed by a long period of online learning and the suspension of a lot of extracurricular activities; then half-day face-to-face classes being allowed despite whole-school resumption; and a lack of campus life, among other things.
Parents have been concerned about the impact of long-term on physical and mental health, and the social activities of their children.
According to a survey conducted by a local university in May, over 90 per cent of the parents interviewed said that their children had insufficient physical exercise, while 70 per cent said that their children spent less than half-an-hour on average on physical exercise every day. Out of these parents, 15 per cent said that their children did engage in any physical exercise all day.
The academics who conducted the survey pointed out that while local school children do not normally engage in frequent exercise, it is quite worrying that they did even less physical exercise during the pandemic. This affects not only their physical and mental development, but would their health.
The Church understands that a healthy body is important. Thus, in 2011, the Pontifical Council for Culture of the Holy See set up a department to promote the dialogue between faith and sport. In fact, there has long been a strong relationship between the Church and the world of sports. The Church was famous for its oratories, where parishes organised sports and other leisure activities. In more recent times, St. John Bosco, inspired by this idea, invented the festive oratories, where sport also plays a special role.
Known for his love of sports such as hiking and swimming, Pope St. John Paul II always engaged in sports with young people and shared his life experience and faith with them when he was a parish priest in Poland.
During the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the pope launched the Jubilee of Sports People event in Rome. The October, a thousand sports people from all over the world took part. They reiterated their commitment to sport and aimed not to win trophies and to uphold ethical values. They also affirmed the educational value of sport. In his homily to the sports people, Pope John Paul emphasised again that playing sports can encourage young people to develop important values such as perseverance, solidarity and friendship. Sports can also enhance mutual understanding among competing teams and establish a civilisation of love.
We hope that teenagers will have an opportunity to exercise their bodies and relax their minds more. With the support of parents and parishioners, it is hoped that every young person can maintain a sound and healthy physique in preparation for the new school year. SE
