This week's homework was to share different ways to tackle the challenge of getting kids to participate more in sports when there are now more opportunities to be "lazy" due to greater accessibility to technology and the forms of entertainment they provide.
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I think the best way to approach this prompt is to ask why we're having this issue in the first place. In my own experience, children in the elementary school ages have no problem at all being active and and engaging in sports, both organized by their peers and organized by adults. From the moment they enter a kindergarten classroom, kids are prompted to play games with each other and foster the social reinforcement one gets from participating in a game. In fact, sports aren't even called sports, they're called games. Oddly enough, games are what they're playing on their devices as well. Therein lies the issue.
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I don't think this is a matter of laziness, lack of work ethic or engagement. The lack of participation is a motivational issue that stems beyond what educators have any effect over. This isn't even a new issue, either. For decades there has been a lengthy dialogue on how video games are having a negative effect on kid's ability to motivate themselves outside of their virtual environment. As adults, we are not immune to this either, and I find it a great irony that an account on a social media platform has the audacity to attribute laziness as the issue when they could be guilty of the same issues on the other side of the screen.
As for the solution to the issue, I say we are doing a pretty good job of it, at least in my own district. First, from grades K-5 we make it a priority to establish positive associations with organized play. Everyone wins when they play, because engagement and social interaction are the goals, not winning or losing. Second, we remove the temptation to engage with their devices when playtime is expected. This means that they get booted outside without any technology to occupy their time. They can engage in pretend play, organized play, or socialize. Often they do all three at the same time. Engaging with each other and forming connections reinforces the type of play they engage in. For many kids this means they will find pleasure in working hard with other kids in games, and later what we'd refer to as "sports." This positive association stays with the kids as they move into the higher grades. Middle schools have very popular ongoing intramural competitions that are proof that kids can navigate past the motivational black hole that devices can become.
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In a perfect world, all the kids would come out of grade school motivated, athletic, and all around good people. But this is not a perfect world, and despite our efforts not all of the kids will come out with a healthy appreciation for sports and games. We cannot control this outcome, no more than we can control our students with any aspect of life. Some kids are going to be good at sports, some kids are not going to get that same natural reinforcement. Some will try hard, others will try hard elsewhere to get that feeling of achievement, whether it be in learning inside the classroom, or on a screen.