Sit Down Sunday With Chris From Hey With Lions F.C
Today, I’m very excited to be speaking with Chris who is the manager of a local children’s football team that I sponsor, Hey With Lions F.C .
It was a pleasure having him on the show and someone I’ve been wanting to get on for some time due to our shared values and vision when reflecting on children’s development and impacting upon their lives in hugely positive ways so they can survive and thrive in this world.
In the conversation we spoke about how he got into coaching, the benefits of football beyond the mere physical areas, how important a re-social connection has been for the children he coaches following the lasdt few months and his future plans for Hey with lions.
Wow! What a super interesting conversation with Chris today. From the conversation I feel two interconnected themes emerged providing motivation for expanding on in later episodes. These were ; The power of role models and the importance of community in a child’s life.
Roles models was something Chris touched on early in the episode with regards to his dad. It can not be underestimated how popular these figures are in children’s lives. Social learning scientists have shown that much of learning that occurs during a child’s development is acquired through observation and imitation. When asked, most of us would agree that children learn from role models and imitate behaviours of those they admire.
The question then is not, “Do children imitate adults?” but, which behaviours of adults do children imitate? And, how can we make it more likely they will imitate positive behaviours rather than negative behaviours?”
There is no shortage of negative role models for our children in today’s society. Children imitate the actions and appearance of video, movie, and internet stars. It could be argued that most of what is in today’s popular media is unhealthy for children to consume and yet it is perhaps more easily accessible now than ever. How might we go about re dressing the balance here?
While children do indeed look to the media for role models, parents are still the biggest influence in their children’s lives. What you say, do , act, react or otherwise plays a huge factor and if we have parents constantly on diets what’s that going to signal to our children, or parents who are constantly fearful of certain things, what’s that going to signal to out children.
Parents should be very intentional about what, when and how they role-model for their children. It all feeds into their development and what comes out the otherside. Qualities that parents can intentionally role-model here may include: honesty, integrity, compassion, dependability, high standards, and values. This will be an interesting topic to return to for sure.
Next, was a thread that ran through our whole conversation and that was of the importance of community on the development of our children. Being involved in a community of family, friends, relations and neighbours is important in the growth and development of your child.
Community gives a child support, a sense of belonging, a strong sense of self and a sense of connection. They feel emotionally and physically safe and valued; they develop social abilities and have a sense of sharing and caring for each other. Without being part of a community, a child soon feels isolated and alone, has a feeling of unworthiness, feels like a failure and starved of love.
This in turn can lead to negative behaviours and negative health consequences. In today’s modern world it seems ever harder to find that community spirit as I drew on in the episode. Why is this? How could community spirit have become lost I ponder. What is for sure, activities such as football clubs that invest more than a families time are where I feel communities are built today and these are the cornerstones to both children’s development and a sense of belonging which children rightly need.
Within these communities there will be role models. Role models outside of a child’s family. Role models like Chris that are guiding the path of many children under his care. Will they follow his guidance to the letter throughout their lives or any role model for that matter, probably not as children are all individuals and will blaze their own trail in this world… but what it does do is set firm an robust foundations for other outcomes to be built upon and to flourish from.
This is how both are connected and indeed interconnected. Having everyday experiences and participating with the people and places of a community enables children to observe, engage, understand and actively contribute to their expanding world. This supports children to live interdependently with others, be decision-makers and have influence.
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