If your child is overwhelmed with energy, then it is not surprising that you are looking for safe ways to put it in a peaceful direction. Despite all the stereotypes and traumatic statistics, parkour can become a sport that will captivate your child. Or, at least, will save him from something even more dangerous. In this article, we have collected five reasons why you should allow your child to do parkour, especially if it is his personal desire, plus some safety rules for children and parents who choose this hobby.

It Is Trendy

Do you remember yourself when you were a teenager? Of course, you remember. A few years ago, we wanted to be in trend, dress fashionably, listen to popular music, make friends and generally be on the same wavelength with the world. It was all really important. Of course, priorities change over time, but today parkour is a trend, and one wave with its peers is important for your child. Parkour is popular, trendy, engaging and impressive. In general, it’s better to let your child do parkour and feel that he is doing something “fashionable” than he will once again ask you to buy him an expensive toy from Apple.

It Has a Lot of Real-Life Applications

Have there been unforeseen cases in your life when you realized that the ability to run fast, jump high and overcome physical obstacles would be useful? Most likely, you just recalled films in which criminals run away from the police in the dark quarters of the Bronx, crossing over one wall after another. But no, we are not about this example. Here you have the most commonplace situation. You accidentally slammed the gate of your country house and now you need to climb over the fence to get inside. Your child is easy to handle, and what about you?

It Teaches How to Overcome Barriers

And not only physical ones. The ability to overcome physical barriers also means the development of the ability to overcome psychological obstacles. Each time your child conquers a new height, learns to jump over more complex physical obstacles, he will at the same time gain confidence that he can conquer any other obstacles as well.

Our life is full of barriers that need to be overcome in order to be where you want to be. Parkour is a chance for your child to learn to be brave, self-confident and able to overcome anything.

In other words, it is impossible to predict at what point in time and in what place we will face an obstacle or fall – and parkour develops both of these skills, including techniques for correct and non-traumatic fall.

It Is Impressive

Let’s go back to your teenage times and remember that the opportunity to impress friends (as well as a boy or girl that you like) was very significant. And of course, now, from the height of your adult experience, you understand that it is much better to impress with your sporting success than smoking after class or drinking at parties. Think about it. Your task is not to deprive your child of the opportunity to impress others (and by the way, in adolescence this is another foundation for further self-assertion), but also not to give him the opportunity to assert himself due to bad habits and bad companies. Parkour is what meets these criteria as much as possible.

It Improves All the Muscles of the Body

Well, the very last argument is that parkour is a serious physical activity. From the outside, it looks very simple and graceful, but in reality, it means the work and strengthening of all the muscles of the body. And since the health of the child is one of the main priorities of all parents, why not choose parkour so that the child can always keep himself in shape? Moreover, if, as we have said, this is his personal desire. And the desires and free choices of children should be encouraged and supported.

Precautions You Need to Take into Account before Making the Final Decision

Yes, you are absolutely right. Parkour is somewhat dangerous. However, let’s reason logically – in our world, there are no absolute guarantees of security, nowhere and never. All traditional sports like swimming or gymnastics can also be potentially dangerous. Therefore, before deciding to allow a child to do parkour, you need to discuss, write down and remember very well the safety rules for this hobby.

• Agree with your child that he will be engaged in parkour only with a qualified trainer. Yes, do not be surprised, there are parkour schools in all big cities. Convince the child that his task is to listen to the coach implicitly and not try to “jump above his head”. Each skill takes time to improve it and move to a new level.
• Agree with your child that he will NEVER climb the rooftops of tall buildings to demonstrate his abilities. City parkour playgrounds (they are also in every big city) is a place to impress others.
• Agree with your child that he will never repeat the exploits of Spider-Man, try to jump over cars on the go or jump from car to car, and so on – let the superheroes and bad guys stay behind the TV screen.
• Agree with your child that parkour is a hobby for free time – when all homework is done. By the way, if you know that he has problems with essay writing, then the Online Writers Rating review website has gathered the best specialists who can help you and him with this task.

Conclusion

As you can see, Parkour is not as scary and dangerous as it seems at first glance. We have listed enough reasons to allow your child to begin to develop his skills in this direction. Moreover, with a competent approach, moderate training, adequate assessment of physical abilities under the gaze of a mentor, all dangers are minimized.

Author

Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.