THESIS: Extracurricular activities are shown to have numerous benefits to a child’s personal development, which can be used later on in life. 

Extracurricular activities have been shown to increase the chances of a child pursuing a postsecondary degree by up to 10%(Lipscomb, 2007, p. 470; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17), as well as having increased academic achievement rates. Along with this, children who participate in some kind of after school activity are shown or have better academic performance. This entails both the attendance and skill aspect. Children who participate in extracurricular activities throughout school are reported to have a higher attendance rate(Crimson Education), presumably because being successful at an activity requires the participant to be consistently present. Activities also boost so-called “executive skills” like time management and leadership(Crimson Education), which can be applied to a wide range of activities from sports to arts. Furthermore, participants have been shown to have a wide array of other developed skills useful for school, such as persistence(Fredricks, 2011; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17)  and problem solving(Wormington, Henderlong Corpus, Anderson, 2012; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17), All of these skills are developed because children learn that in order to succeed in their activity, they need to learn to motivate themselves and overcome challenges to move forward. The children also learn how to efficiently follow instructions, especially if their activities require them to engage in sports or rigorous ways of thinking and applying concepts. All of the skills developed transfer extremely well into the school setting, because children have to use this every single day and hour that they are at school. In the long run, this skill set will greatly transfer over to the workplace, as the same skills are required to work effectively at any kind of job. 

Extracurricular activities also develop a person’s character in many ways, such as self-esteem, handling criticism, problem-solving skills, resilience, better time management, and critical thinking skills. Students who participate in after-school activities report a higher level of self-concept and self-esteem(Bloomfield and Barber, 2009; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17). For example, activities can include going up to higher levels of difficulty and competition, where success gives the participant a great confidence boost(Crimson Education). This is important for the person’s mental wellbeing, and shapes a positive outlook regarding themselves, leading them to be more confident in their abilities and less-self conscious about themselves as a person. Every type of activity also requires the child to face criticism or critiques((Mckeyane, 2013; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17 ), which they will need to know how to handle and apply throughout life. This skill is important for personal growth because the child will be less likely to develop the sense that they are infallible, while also normalizing and  accepting the fact that they too can make mistakes. Knowing how to handle criticism, and learning how to solve it is an important skill needed in every aspect of life in general.  This leads in to problem-solving, which is another important skill that activities develop, especially ones that require teamwork like athletics(Fredricks & Eccles, 2008; BU Journal of Education Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2,17). Participants need to find ways, either standard or outside-of-the-box, to come up with solutions to their problems, Every activity will make a person feel stumped or stuck, so knowing how to overcome various challenges broadens the horizon of solutions and develops the mind to immediately seek out a solution instead of giving up. This also leads to resilience, as the participants will seek out ways to progress within their activity and sports and build patience even at times of intense difficulties(Mountain Heights Academy). Furthermore, extracurricular activities increase the ability to manage time better. Along with work for the activities, the student needs to do schoolwork, meaning that they have to distribute their time as so to accommodate for all of the tasks that they were assigned to do. This can lead to the participant seeing a decrease in their likeness to procrastinate. Activities can also serve as a break away from school work, and can help the student come back to their work with a new mindset(Mountain Heights Academy. With this, the student also develops critical thinking skills, which are also important for being successful in life. The critical thinking skills, or “cognitive skills”(Crimson Education) are important for the workplace, and fall into the category of soft skills, which each successful employee has to have a set of. Critical thinking skills are also useful in daily life and decision-making, even if it has nothing to do with work or any other difficult responsibility. Overall, the character development skills developed by participating in extracurricular activities can be rendered extremely useful both in general life and professional life beyond education.