Everyday you see kids participating in football, baseball, basketball, and other extracurricular activities, it is part of the balanced day for most kids. Extracurricular activities are important and enjoyed by most, but I believe children should not be forced to do activities like sports or clubs. Even though extracurricular activities are important they are hard for some to do. Many parents and kids nowadays don't have time for these activities with all the work and homework they have to do. Also some kids have disabilities or mental disabilities that cause problems when they are trying to do activities like football or yearbook club. In my opinion forcing extracurricular activities on kids is wrong because some parents and kids don't have time, and some kids with disabilities or mental disabilities might have trouble with rigorous activity.

In schools all across America kids have homework, it's unavoidable, children have to work hard no matter which school they go to. Homework is a required part of school and some schools give more homework than others. In schools that offer AP level classes students have about 4-5 hours of homework each day, giving them no time to do extracurricular activities. Kids are stressed with this work, and putting other activities on top of it is just creating more stress. Parents don't have time too because the average workday takes up most of their time, and driving kids back and forth from each activity can really mess up a parent's schedule. An average workday for parents is about 8 or 9 hours and work is hard and demanding for most parents. This is why the principal should not force kids to do extracurricular activities because some just simply don't have the time.

In many American schools kids are burdened by a disability or mental disability. These disabilities cause some kids to have trouble with school work, focusing, and completing simple tasks such as writing with a pencil. This is why it would not be beneficial to force these kids to do extracurricular activities. The rigorous work of clubs like a math club, a yearbook club, or a reading club would overstimulate some of these kids. It would lead to tantrums, fits, and bad behavior from some of these kids, and it would distract the other club members from their work. Extracurricular activities like baseball or football would not be beneficial for them either because some of these kids with disabilities have trouble throwing a ball, standing up straight, and walking if it is a serious case. While it is not a bad thing for kids with disabilities or mental disabilities to join a club or sport, it is just harder for some of them to do extracurricular activities because of their underlying issues.

This is why I believe kids should not be forced to participate in extracurricular activities because while they are beneficial they are hard for some. Extracurricular activities cause issues for parents and kids with no time, and in some cases they force kids with disabilities to do things they cannot do. For example, some parents have work from 8 am until 7 pm and this would not allow any time for drop off and pick up. Also kids have a lot of homework, opening up little time for kids to do extracurricular activities. Lastly some kids with disabilities and mental disabilities just don't have the capacity to participate in extracurricular activities. Many say that extracurricular activities should be required, but I feel forcing all kids to do them is wrong. I can't believe the principal is even considering doing this, but what do you think? Should extracurricular activities be required?     