&gt; Just wait a generation.<p>There are still plenty of people who have grown up with games as a normal part of life that look down on those who play them as wasting time and hold it as a badge of honour when they no longer play them, as though this means they have now matured.<p>Modern sports grew out of gentleman&#x27;s games in universities, the whole culture was something that people looked up to as civilized before it came to be something everyone &#x27;participated&#x27; in.<p>&gt; At low to medium levels sports probably helps academic performance<p>I don&#x27;t believe the parent was talking about actually playing sports, which would help, but was more talking about the Sunday Afternoon Football game where it is socially acceptable to sit and watch the game and associated commentary for hours