In today’s society, it seems as if everything is a competition. From competing for a spot at the best school to attend to competing against fellow colleagues for the best position in the job field; it is a constant fight for the top spot. In Jessica Statsky’s essay, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” she explains the harsh effects that occur in our children’s lives if they are put into competitive sports too early in life. It is understandable that the world needs to be competitive in order for it to grow and expand. However, if competition is enforced too much at a young age, children may start to doubt themselves, believing that they are not as superior or as smart as their fellow classmates and friends. Sometimes this may even cause …show more content…
Once the whistle blows most people are more focused on the goal of the game, which is to win. This causes them to not fully enjoy the game and just go through the motion and the flow of the game. Children today are not allowed to just have fun because a lot of parents and coaches put a lot of pressure on them and are focused on winning. In Statsky’s writing, she explained how during scrimmage, the children are having fun and enjoying their time, but once the game starts, the happiness seems to disappear from the children’s faces. This proves how kids just want to have fun and not be competitive. Also, most children are afraid of failure, which might keep them from performing at their best ability during a competitive game, even if they are capable of it. It will also make them scared to play in competitive sports because they don’t want to let their team down. Without competition early on, children are allowed to just have fun with their friends, which is what most children at their age what to do. Also at a young and tender age, most children do not want to ram hard into their friends and it can be a traumatic experience for young kids who do. In addition, if the kid themselves end up getting hit, the child might never fully enjoy the sport and might not want to play the sport ever again. All in all, without competition at a young age, children are able to just play the sport for fun without fear and develop their skills, which may later on help them when they do decide to play
Kids just want to have fun. In a bygone era, parents wanted kids to play sports for fun and camaraderie. However, a new attitude is developing among coaches and parents, which is mopping-up fun from youth sports. Now it's all about the team and the game. The team must win the game at any cost.
“Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser,” Vince Lombardi once said. This saying could be the unsung anthem of American sports for children and teenagers. Everyone loves to win. In sports there is always competition. Is there too much emphasis on “the win” for kids and teens? This issue is important because it essentially develops the way children and teenagers think and react; it will affect them later on in life. Too much emphasis on winning is a problem because there is extensive pressure from parents and coaches, and the consequences can be severe.
He points out how academic and sports cut-off dates result in children of up to 12 months age difference compete against one another for recognition. Those recognized for their skills will be groomed for success with extra practice and coaching. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which coaches raise for success those children branded as successful (p. 30). Considering the birthdates of minors in competitive hockey and children in schools, he shows those born just after the cut-off dates for their groupings (thus, the oldest) disproportionately outperform their younger
In his book “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character”, Paul Tough attempts to push the reader to believe that the most important skills for determining a person’s success in life are character traits. For the longest time people believed that IQ and SAT scores were good predictors of a person’s future success in college and in life, but Tough believes this to be untrue. Through the heavy use of exemplification and statistics and studies, Paul Tough argues that schools, families, and the entire educational system in general should focus more on building character, or noncognitive traits, than on just trying to improve test scores.
2. Identify situations that you have observed in which competition has actually interfered with people achieving a goal. Is competition emphasized in children? What recommendations would you make to parents regarding their child's participation in soccer, baseball, etc.?
After first reading the essay “Sports Should be Child’s Play,” I believe David Epstein made a valid point when discussing the issue of children participating in competitive sports at a too young of an age. He effectively delivered his argument by giving an appropriate amount of evidence without crowding the piece and losing the reader. There were certain sections of the essay that would have been difficult to understand without context, however Epstein was able to guide the reader and explain the evidence and situation when necessary. The title of the essay drew me in because “child's play” coincides with something that can be easily accomplished and is enjoyable. However sports, at the higher level, are challenging and are required to be taken seriously. If children are playing at competitive level too early in their life, it can cause a loss of enjoyment and be detrimental to their physical and mental health.
Statsky also makes another faulty assumption, which is that competition is an adult imposition on the world of children’s play. She says in her article, “The primary goal of a professional athlete – winning – is not appropriate for children” (629). Children compete to win in the same way that adults do, and they do so on their own without any adult pressure. Common playground gam...
When the coach turned his head, the seven-year-old stuck a finger down his throat and made himself vomit. When the coach fumed back, the boy pointed to the ground and told him, “Yes, there it is, Coach. See?” (Tosches A33).It emphasizes the fact that if a child gets hurt once, they will fear the possibility of getting hurt again ,so they try to find excuses to prevent themselves from playing the game.Second,Statsky states how competitive adults have drained the fun out of children's sports and made the game unappealing for children.She cites Martin Rablovsky, a former sports editor for the New York Times says that in all his years of watching young children play organized sports, he has noticed very few of them smiling. “I’ve seen children enjoying a spontaneous pre-practice scrimmage become somber and serious when the coach’s whistle blows,” Rablovsky says. “The spirit of play suddenly disappears, and sport becomes job-like” (qtd in Coakley 94). It shows the fact that competitive adults are oblivious to their actions and don't notice that what they are doing can really affect a child mentally.Third, Statsky is concerned that competitive sports will lower a child's self-esteem and make them lack confidence.’’Like adults, children fear failure, and so even those with good physical skills may stay away because they lack
.In addition young athletes have become more aggressive. Kids that participate in competitive sports are becoming more and more aggressive and competitive the sports have become themselves. Mitchell reveals "traits like bullying and the need to dominate their oppo...
Then again, people may say there are times when kids feel like they do not have enough time to relax, or if kids had to play competitively the kids would get tired of practicing (Hilary). At the end of the day, kids receiving trophies for participating will not be excited for what they should be excited about playing a team
There is a misconception that competition is bad, if a child can experience the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, they will be well equipped for the reality of life. Competition provides stimulation to achieve a goal; to have determination, to overcome challenges, to understand that hard work and commitment leads to a greater chance of success. Life is full of situations where there are winners and losers; getting a job; a sports game; not getting into a desired college. People need to learn how to cope with disappointment and then to look forward to the next opportunity to try again. Competition also teaches us to dig deep and find abilities we never knew we had. The pressure to win or succeed can often inspire more imaginative thinking and inspire us to develop additional
Athletic competition does not appear to promote character development; instead, there are some studies that suggest that individuals with athletic experience have poorer attitudes toward fair play. Socially desirable behaviours such as friendliness, generosity and cooperation are inconsistent with physical activities that emphasize winning. However, physical activity may have the potential for personal growth in qualities including persistence, deeper self-reliance, commitment and motivation, and may increase resourcefulness. This is probably truer for noncompetitive physical activities than team competition.
Healthy competition can drive people forward. Allowing a kid to doing what they want because they enjoy it can open them up socially by allowing them to reach out and teach others that don’t have that same niche. If we force a child to be overly competitive, this decreases the child’s ability to grow in other areas in life because they are too focused on being the best. If they don’t live up their standards of being the best, this will cause the child to be insecure about their abilities and they will constantly seek approval. Unhealthy competition can detrimental later on in life when trying to get into a great school, find a partner or in getting a job.
Competition produces anxiety, which can interfere with learning and disassociates with one’s own body. It is not instinctual because it is taught and it damages people and creates stress in their life. Competition teaches people to give their worst while they only focus on what their fellow mate is doing. I agree with Rubin that “competition limits people’s ability to lead happy and satisfying lives”, for I am assured that competition is destructive to children’s self-esteem, it interferes with learning, sabotages relationships, and isn’t necessary to have a good time.... ...
From a young age, parents and teachers encourage children to compete. Teachers give preschoolers stickers for coloring the best, parents reward their children for being the top of the class, and teams get trophies for winning competitions. According to the book Remix, such reward systems are meant to motivate people to be competitive and do their best work (Latterell 185). However, some people worry that too much competition is not always beneficial. Specifically, New York Times states that “watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading” (Abate). People are encouraged to be competitive, but competition has positive and negative effects such as raising the bar for people to work harder, making expectations