Competitive Sports
Some people believe young kids who participate in competitive sports is a good idea. Sports offer many benefits, but the question is, should those benefits override the dangers? From what I have gathered, I would have to agree with those in favor of not playing competitive sports so young. I think this because of the severe, life changing injuries, emotional damage, and pricy fees. To start out with, research shows that more kids get injured playing sports than in traffic accidents. In, Pushing Too Hard Too Young” by Jacqueline Stenson,, it claims, “Kids 5-15 had the highest injury rate of all...59.3 episodes per 1,000 people, a fifth of kids lost one or more school days a year because of their complaints. Strains and
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For example, in the article “Pushing Too Hard Too Young” by Jacqueline Stenson, it says, “Experts in sports medicine and young athletes say they are increasingly concerned about the pressures put on children to excel...youngsters are at the risk for emotional burnout.” This quote explains how the pressure put on kids in competitive sports can totally affect their emotional well-being. It also doesn't help that coaches and parents also push way too hard. The article claims, “Parents tend to think everyone is going to the Olympics.” Since parents think that, they push hard on their kids to win. Parents may not realize it, but they start pushing and pushing so hard, their child has nothing left emotionally and physically. Another piece of evidence that is claimed in the article, is, “Parents - and coaches - who push too hard too young, particularly when they emphasize winning above all else, can easily wipe out a child’s motivation to play.” This quote proves that parents and coaches are the “prime culprits”, taking the fun and enjoyment out of playing sports for kids. Marilyn Enmark is a soccer coach in Detroit, Michigan. In the article, “Pushing Too Hard Too Young” by Jacqueline Stenson, Enmark says she has had incidents where a child in a game fell down, and they were holding their head. The parent walked over and instead of …show more content…
When parents pay for these high costing activities, then they don’t have that money to pay for other, vital family necessities, such as food, bills, taxes, plumbing, etc. In the article “High Cost of Youth Sports” by Visualnews.com , it claims, “...Many parents are having to reach deep into their pockets to cover the rising costs of equipment, and sports related activities...In the United States, parents spend $671 on average to cover the costs of uniforms and the hefty fees charged for registration, lessons, and coaching, and at least 1 in 5 ends up spending over $1,000 per child, every year…Youth sports are no longer an excellent opportunity for social involvement determined by passion and skill, but by the family’s financial resources, sustaining a $5 billion a year industry.” This quote says that youth sports are no longer teaching
Children who are active recklessly engage in activities where injuries can occur. Nobody can predict when or how seriously anybody will get injured during an activity, however, the risks of children playing tackle football is prevalent where the dangers are imminent. The game of tackle football on a youth level is dangerous for children since they are developing physically and mentally. According to an article from The Atlantic, “America’s most dangerous football is in the peewee leagues, not the National Football League” (Barra, 2013). According to a journal article, “sports injuries account for approximately 23% of pediatric emergency department injury related visits” (Podberesky, Unsell & Anton, 2009). “Of these sports injury-related
Parents in the U.S. are also placing too much pressure on their kids to be the best. Parents in America are becoming much too involved in youth sports and are starting to get out of control, sometimes even resorting to violence and vulgarity. Parents in the U.S. today are becoming too involved in youth sports and are getting out of control. In the July 24, 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated, there is an article by William Nack and Lester Munson about a father in Massachusetts who killed another father over a dispute about youth hockey. On July 5, 2000 Thomas Junta, a father of two, got into what seemed to be a minor shoving match with Michael Costin, a father of four, over a play in a hockey practice.
Playing competitive sports affect young people in a good way. They are good because you have that commitment and now its hard to back down. In the "no" section of 'Have Youth Sports Become Too Intense?", it states "Intense training promotes self-confidence, self-discipline, and commitment." Student athletes can agree with all of this because it teaches discipline and a lot of other things. Parents can disagree with my reason, because they don't want their child to go through with intense training. They think it's way too much for the child.
One quote that was used was, “Children who specialize in a single sport and train intensively for it are at higher risk of experiencing overuse injuries, as well as burnout, anxiety and depression, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),” (Perry). She said this because it shows how when children play sports that there is a major health risk involved and they could be depressed and exhausted. Another quote is, “More kids are participating in adult-led organized sports today, and sometimes the goals of the parents and coaches may be different than the young athletes,” (Brenner). Doctor Joel Brenner said this because it shows how the coaches and parents are sometimes more involved in the sport than some of the young athletes. Though this argument may seem accurate it does not fully explain some of the major health risks and what the parents and coaches are doing to prevent as many injuries as possible.
One of the assumptions Statsky makes is that, “One readily understandable danger of overly competitive sports is that they entice children into physical actions that are bad for growing bodies” (627). This statement rests on the assumption that children would not perform any “physical actions that are bad for growing bodies” (Statsky 627) without organized competitive sports. This is simply untrue. Children jump from swings, climb trees, skateboard, “pop wheelies” and otherwise put themselves in physical peril with alarming regularity. Children’s free and unorganized play often results in broken bones and stitches, even for the most timid children.
Kids get many injuries from sports. Some are more serious than others, like concussions. “Concussions symptoms include short term effects like nausea, dizziness, and trouble concentrating” ( Long term effects of a concussion include brain damage, memory loss, and depression. These symptoms could lower kids academic status, and miss school. Kids 13 years and younger have doubled with the amount of concussions, that are sports related. This is happening because of ball related sports which include, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball and hockey. Not only can we eliminate stress, but we can also cut down on injuries from the sports that caused them.
Everyone agrees that parent involvement is a good thing. But when the parent behaves inappropriately, it creates a poor environment for the children to learn and enjoy themselves. "Sideline rage" with parents behaving badly at youth sports events is such an epidemic, that 76% of respondents from 60 high school athletic associations said increased spectator interference is causing many officials to quit (Associated Press, 6/3/01). Parents are supposed to be role models, and the lessons they teach will determine their values and actions in the future. These days violence in children's sports is not limited to the playing field; overbearing parents are creating dangerous situations on the field.
Young athletes put in danger by the competition, aggressiveness, and intensity of sports. Kids everyday are being pushed past limits by coaches parents and fans. The intensity of sports has become so high they are causing mental and physical exhaustion. Sports like wrestling has kids eat different to either lose gain weight. Football player, Baseball player, and even cheerleader have to work out in extreme temperatures. Some kids involved in competitive sports have been taking weight lifting classes and even just conditioning. The youth are being put in danger due to how competitive, aggressive, and intense youth sports have become.
Competitive sports are a very hot topic right now, and people have different views on children participating in them. Some may think that competitive sports help children to be healthier, because they are very active during practices and games. Although this is a good reason, sports can lead to concussions and other dangerous injuries. The truth of the matter is that sports can be very dangerous, and they can lead to many other problems. Children shouldn’t be playing competitive sports because they can get concussions or other dangerous injuries, they can develop excessive amounts of stress, and they can develop poor attitude.
It is not just the injuries that are playing a major effect in kids, but it is the physical and mental draining that is coming from their parents and coaches. Parents are pushing their kids to do all this extra stuff to make them the best on the team. Gerdy reports, “Youth sports programs are no longer about meeting the educational, development, and recreational needs of children but rather about satisfying ego needs of the adults” (Gerdy). These children no longer have a chance to learn the simply fundamentals because of their parents forcing them to the next level too early. Parents are also causing disturbances during their child’s game. Parent misconduct in youth sports refers to any disruptive, abusive, or violent behavior parents. The article responds, “The main purpose of youth sports, that is, to teach and guide young athletes in skill development in their sport of choice, to provide encouragement and support, to build self-esteem, and to allow children to have fun while exercising” (Atkinson). Parents have begun to promote the total opposite but screaming at their kid to do better instead of encouraging. These violent calls from the parents begin to produce emotional suffering and damage to the child because they begin to think too much about being perfect all the time and not enough about just having fun. Also, when these children are the parents and their kids are playing they will
A majority of these Injuries are very easy to eliminate when decisions are made based upon the athletes wellbeing along with long term health. When the proper safety measures are taken instead of what will make the athlete the best around in that sport are implemented, children will be able to enjoy sports safely again. Overuse Injuries While the benefits of children being active is an essential component to a healthy lifestyle, excessive workouts can do more damage to the athlete then actual gain. Overuse injuries are the most frequent type of injury a child receives while participating in sports and are caused by the repetitive microtrauma to a body part during the activity (O’Connor). Compared to everyday activities, sports place large amounts of pressure on precise areas of the children's body repetitively and with higher contact speeds which produce greater joint contact.
A parent putting his/her child in sports gives the child something to do and keeps them fit. Parents also put their child in a sport hoping that he/she will get success out of it “Eager to nurture the next A-Rod or Michelle Kwan, parents enroll their 5- or 6-year-olds in a competitive sports league or program” (Stenson). While not all parents are pushing for future Olympians, the fight for a sports college scholarship is competitive and parents may feel that their child will have a better chance of gaining one if he/she starts competitive sports early. Parents push their children to succeed, and children—not wanting to disappoint their parents—push themselves, sometimes harder than they should. If done right, pushing a child into sports can have a positive effect on the child’s interaction with other children while teaching them commitment and healthy competition.
With more and more children participating in some sort of organized sport than ever before, there is a constant concern regarding the pressures kids are brought into to excel. Emotionally over-involved parents often think that it is their responsibility to persuade, push, or support the children's fantasies or sporting objectives, even if the kids themselves do not share the same aspirations as his/her parents. Part of growing up is learning what interests you the most. It's how one becomes familiar with who they really are and what they enjoy doing in life. Unfortunately, for many young children, his/her parents seem to take his/her own lives into their own hands. Most parents want their kids to grow up to be "superstars", make it big after the college scenario, and perhaps go on to play professionally or succeed in the Olympics. We all know that there are the few that make it professionally, and having your parent paint a picture for you as you're barely going into grade school is unethical. Yet for the unfortunate, these kids are helpless to the pressure that is put on them at such a young age. Take Todd Marinovich, for example. For the child's entire life he was exercised, fed, schooled, and drilled with his fathers' one g...
It 's been outrageous , how many kids get injured per year playing youth sports for school and organizations. The youth who play sports receive plenty medical attention throughout the year due to injuries cause from actions made occuring in games. Health plays a big part in sports because if your are are not healthy many things can go wrong with the body including dehydration, heart problems , and muscle spasm. Playing a sport can be very hard to juggle with school and also getting talked down by coaches and parents. Dehydration is a high possibility because of outside sports that happen in the spring/summer and playing and practicing in humid conditions that you are not well prepared for can be bad and there will be consequences. Parents and
More than 38 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports in the United States each year. The most sports related injuries in kids are scrapes and bruises, brain and spinal injuries, teeth, ankles, knees, ACL, eyes, pulled muscles, sunburn and broken bones.... ... middle of paper ... ...