Not long ago, l asked many middle-aged persons a question. I asked, "How many of you had a hobby when you were children?" Nearly everyone raised a hand. I then asked them to keep their hands in the air if they knew at least one of their children's hobbies. Most of the hands went down. I felt sad. It's terrible if the children don't have a hobby. How I wish all the parents can care about their children's hobbies!
Thirty years ago, almost every child in my neighborhood had some kinds of hobbies. Collecting and trading baseball cards was a popular hobby. Others, like coin collecting and stamp collecting, were also popular. One of my friends was collecting photos; another was collecting radios. In fact, hobbies can benefit (有益于)children in several ways. They are expressions of personal success and self-discovery (自我发现). Hobbies also help build self-respect(自尊). Hobbies are educational tools, as well. For example, a child interested in rocketry (火箭技术)-—one of the most popular hobbies, can explore (探索)those skills in many ways. By working on hobbies, children learn to set goals, make decisions, and solve all sorts of problems.
