We need to help our kids develop movement skills

In a Globe & Mail editorial, Active for Life publisher and editor-in-chief Richard Monette writes about the importance of making sure children develop physical literacy. He starts the article with this bold claim:

It’s a bit counterintuitive. Humans are born with the capacity to move, but not the skills to do so.

So while we are born with the ability to move our arms and legs in the water, we have to be taught how to swim.

The problem, writes Richard, is that in the past, kids were able to learn basic movement skills by playing popular games: kick the can, tag, and hide and seek. But the games that are popular today are sedentary.

They learn to handle a joystick, a keyboard and smartphones.

It’s a situation that has never been seen before and experts say that today’s kids are the most inactive in history. As parents, we have to acknowledge a few things if we want to help turn the tide and get kids moving again.

It is hard to believe that we have arrived at a point where we need to help children learn to move, but here we are. It is time to take on the task and help our kids.