Skill Development refers to the process by which people realize a skill or a talent in them and move ahead to specialize in it. The modern-day education curriculum defines skill development in children and takes it into account with various countries setting different levels for skill specialization in children. While some countries insist on children going through overall learning until they are at age 15, other countries encourage skill specialization at tender ages of up to less than ten years. Notably, other countries still have the matter under debate with education stakeholders engaging in constant discussions on the right time to introduce children to skill specialization.
Many people hold the opinion that children should not specialize in skills too soon and that this is characterized by a lot of dangers to the general growth of the child. This school of thought holds that specializing soon in skills such as sports poses the children to numerous instances of injuries and sometimes long term injuries which may cut short their careers. Additionally, they believe that specializing at tender ages tend to be due to the influence of parents or teachers and the child may not do it out of the heart or at the right time when he/ she has realized the true potential. This follows that specializing at this age may lead the children to a career they do not like in the future.
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However, skill development is essential in children and children should, in fact, be introduced to specialization at young ages. Does the development of handedness in children make a child have one of his hands functioning better than the other? In motor vehicle skill learning for instance where most of the learning is practical, left-handed students tend to get disfavored in skill acquisition and hence reduce the effectiveness of education (Derri and Pachta, 2007). This is common in many other skill schools. On this note, it then means that a student should be made to specialize early enough based on their handedness to avoid putting them through the stress of ineffective learning when they are old. It is true that handedness develops naturally in children, yet it can also be learned, and that is possible at a tender age. This means that a child who desires to enter a career contrary to his handedness ability can get to learn early to use the other hand.
According to the Bible, parents are mandated according to Proverbs 22:6 to train their children in how things are to be done and the skill shall remain in them even at their old age. What this means is that the scriptures support the skill development in children and pushes for parents to engage in developing skills in their children. The scriptures go-ahead to assure parents that the abilities that children gain in their tender age, shall remain in them for a very long time and shall stay with them even at old age.
Based on all the arguments, it is right to say that skill development should be introduced in children at tender ages. This is because it enables the children to work towards perfecting their skill at early ages of life. Additionally, specializing early is essential in sharpening the interest of the student in what he does and increases his concentration in learning, therefore, making him do well in skill development. As presented by the provisions of the Bible, early skill development in children makes them gain knowledge that will not leave their knowhow even when they grow old. It follows then from these array of reasons that skill development is appropriate in children.
References
Brenner, J. S. (2016). Sports specialization and intensive training in young athletes. Pediatrics , 138 (3), e20162148.
Derri, V., & Pachta, M. (2007). Motor skills and concepts acquisition and retention: a comparison between two styles of teaching. RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte , 3 (9), 37-47.
Fabricant, P. D., Lakomkin, N., Sugimoto, D., Tepolt, F. A., Stracciolini, A., & Kocher, M. S. (2016). Youth sports specialization and musculoskeletal injury: a systematic review of the literature. The Physician and sportsmedicine , 44 (3), 257-262.
LaPrade, R. F., Agel, J., Baker, J., Brenner, J. S., Cordasco, F. A., Côté, J., ... & Hewett, T. E. (2016). AOSSM early sport specialization consensus statement. Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine , 4 (4), 2325967116644241.
