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Recommended: Kids in sports
You have probably known that little children played sports, like peewee baseball, or junior soccer, and known how they used to be so welcoming, and fun for the whole family. However, notice how I said "used to be". The times have changed, and sadly, so have the way we do sports. Now, every coach thinks they're the next John Wooden, football players as young as in high school are getting mild to severe CTE and little children getting ignored and not getting enough time to play while all the attention goes in favor of the "all-star" players. My point is, children should not be allowed to play competitive sports.
To begin, kids should not be able to play competitively because players get severe injuries when they play competition. In a study
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Children who win a game don't permanently gain confidence. What they gain is a temporary gloat, and whatever confidence they do gain is turned into a warped and demented ego. What happens instead is that children base their self-worth based on external sources, ergo, they only feel as important as how many times they win, starting a vicious cycle. The more that player competes, the more they need to compete to feel good about themselves, nut that’s the thing. Children’s success shouldn’t be measured by how much they win, yet that is what they learn. We learn that we do our best work when we are in a race, and that without competition, we would all become fat and lazy. What actually happens is we succeed in spite of the competition, not because of it. In a study at Brandeis University, children would be asked to make “silly collages”. Some competed for prizes, others didn’t. Seven artists rated the paintings, and the ones that competed for prizes actually did worse than those who didn’t, and this has happened numerous time. Another individual study was in India. They offered multiple people different amounts of money for simple tasks. One group was given a week’s salary, another group was given a month’s salary and the third offered two months’ salary. However, when the groups got past simple cognitive skills, those who were
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.
Kids are playing in a pressure pot full of stress and this is dangerous. They feel over-responsible toward team mates, parents and coaches and in consequence, are playing with chronic pain and even concussions. One-Sport Wonder Kids are deciding by ages 9-10 they want to excel in one sport in order to win a college scholarship.
Youth sports are a staple in nearly every American’s childhood as highlighted in “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” by Jessica Statsky. Statsky makes two contentions in favor of this argument: first, that the participants of youth sports are not physically and psychologically ready, and second, that the mentality of win or lose is more harmful than helpful during the formative years of a child’s development. I agree with Statsky that children’s sports are too often over competitive, but some competition is beneficial to their development.
If we did not fail or lose how could we learn to value or appreciate success/winning? What would we work towards, strive for or struggle with if we won all the time? What would motivate or drive us to do better or want better for ourselves if there was no concept of competition? If we are only recognized for attendance or participation because there is nothing beyond what’s actually handed to us, then all of society would come to a screeching halt. It goes beyond childhood, we are shaping the society for the future
Some argue that participation trophies are going to be the downfall of society and human life in general. That is not the case but, there are many downsides of these awards, in this essay a few of these will be brought to attention. Participation trophies do not teach children valuable lessons.
Many parents will argue about whether kids should be allowed to play sports at such a young age. In my opinion, I think kids shouldn’t be allowed to play sports at a young age. When they grow older, I think that kids should be allowed to play sports. When a young athlete gets injured, coaches may not be trained for an injury and the child can suffer more serious injuries just from that. Kids want to skip practice so they will often fake an injury, serious coaches will use shaming techniques and call athletes “ladies” or man up, and athletes might not have the best protective gear, making them more likely to have a concussion. Worst of all, coaches
In the article, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” the author, Jessica Statsky demands that very composed, focused games that are played in grown-up standard, for example, Little League Baseball and Peewee Football are not appropriate for children particularly those who are between the age of six and twelve. These games have the opposite impact of growing either future players or fans. Moreover, they can damage children mentally and physically. She mentioned a few reasons to support her ideas. Statsky explains that competitive sports persuade children into doing physical actions that are bad by taking twelve-year boy as an example of a child being hurt to attempt to throw a curveball. Even though children are not injured, there is a fear
In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” Jessica Stasky proves that how adult competitive games are harmful in so many ways for children. She highlights the physical and psychological problems, loss of good future players and the pressure which children handle to fulfil the desires and wishes of their parents as three main downsides of such high standard games due to which children entire life get affected.
The maxim “trying is the important thing” will only lead to laziness and complacency in life. Trying is very important in being successful, but there are many more important things that are necessary for success. Parents try to boost their children’s self-esteem and make their children happy by giving them participation medals, but this is actually counter-productive. Larger and larger amounts of medals and trophies are given for increasingly smaller achievements, and this “everybody’s a winner” mentality can make children grow up to expect success and recognition for a mediocre performance. Children may be led to underachieve and not try their best, which may lead to idleness and lack of achievement in the truly competitive environment of
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
Jessica Statsky, in her essay, “Children need to Play, Not Compete” attempts to refute the common belief that organized sports are good for children. She sees organized sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, both emotionally and physically. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, “When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children” (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.
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.
There are many arguments about children playing football and whether they should be able to play it. Some are against it and some are ok with it, I personally think it is not a good idea for kids to play any high-impact sport until they are older because you never know what will happen on the field. It is now a huge subject in America because parents don’t want their kids playing football.
These sports are creating an everlasting effect on children which are straining their minds and body. I agree to this point that children are put under so much pressure which can prove to be dangerous in the long run. Children are being pushed to these limits by their coaches and as well as their parents. To prove her point Jessica gave an example of a game where parents started fighting over an irrelevant game of children thus demonstrating the uncivilized behavior in the playing field. These sports are primarily designed for adults and children should be kept at bay. Parents completely ignore the idea that these sports create a negative impact on their
Pros and Cons of Children in Sports On Friday, October 18, 2013, Aledo High School and Western Hills High School squared off in a football game. It was a great game for those rooting for Aledo High because they won the game 91 – 0. At the time these two teams played, ESPN of Dallas/Fort Worth had Aledo ranked number one in the state in class 4A high school football. With a massacre like that, one may ask if the Western Hills Football team knew why they had lost so badly. Would this game have made state and national news if it had been played but no score was kept?