According to Ian Frazier in his essay “In Praise of Margins”, Frazier states that marginal places and activities are valuable because it allows us to be free and ourselves. Marginal activities also provide a break from our purpose filled lives. I believe that his views are in fact true. Indeed, marginal places and activities act as a getaway from everything and everyone. It is where we are able to express our true selves These activities may be pointless yet beneficial, but not matter what perspective it is looked from, these activities are always valuable. As teenagers, Frazier and his friends began to wonder “What are we doing?”(In Praise of Margins). They now thought that their time spent in the woods was just a waste of time. As an adult, Frazier realized the importance of the time he and his friends spent in the woods after seeing his children playing in the little irrigation ditch. Children live in a world full …show more content…
An example of positive results that marginal activities may bring is Michael Phelps. Phelps is known for his outstanding swimming skills and multiple Olympic medals, but what many do not know is that as a kid Phelps did not dream of one day becoming a star athlete. In fact, swimming was a marginal activity for him. Being diagnosed at the age of 10 with ADHD, Phelps looked at swimming in order to release the energy that came with this disorder. Swimming became the time where he could relax and do something he enjoyed doing. It was not only an activity where he could take a break from the effects of his disorder, but also where he could do something useful with his time. This activity later proved beneficial to Phelps. At just 15 years old, he became “the youngest male to make a U.S. Olympic team in 68 years” (Wikipedia). Phelps was able to make a career out of this activity, supporting Frazier’s beliefs that marginal activities are indeed
As a child you do many things that are horrible but you do them because you either do not care or do not know the consequences to their actions. Percy was a teen who lived in Bend, Oregon and he was happy to live there. He started to see people from California, Seattle, and Portland come to his town which he felt they were invading his territory. Percy and his friends would do many bad things to the rich people because they hated them and wanted them out. Bend was a place where there was a lot of empty land usually grass field. “ When I go back to Bend now, I don't recognize it. I get lost driving around. There are roads where there were none before. There are roundabouts where there were once intersections. Acres of sagebrush have given way to big box stores”. Percy left Oregon for a long time, but when he came back he saw something he had never expected to occur. As he drove around Percy got lost because this was a new...
The soccer field is the only place he is able to do this, not at school, not at home, and not in his community. Paul has to leave Lake Windsor to be able to play soccer in Tangerine. The kids in Lake Windsor are snotty, rich, and self-centered. But the kids in Tangerine are hard working, resourceful, and proud. During their first soccer game, Paul described the game as, “The Palmetto players got down and dirty right away, and their fans cheered them on.”
In the essay “In Praise of Margins,” the author Ian Frazier explains the idea that margins
As most children naturally do, Jem, Scout, and their newly-found friend Dill find amusements to make the days pass with excitement. When they first meet Dill, they are beginning the "day's play in the backyard"(11). The implication is that it becomes routine for them to play and that each day brings on a different experience.
You see sports everywhere, on your TV and even your local park. The value of sports in the average American is astronomical, sports is a major priority in people’s life. Sports teaches young kids how to be successful (and not successful) at life. There is so much that goes into sports that people who never have played will never understand. With each sport there is specific skill that one must master to be good, and with that takes hours and hours of hard work. You can talk about a certain individual’s skill and capabilities that make him great, but the real value of sports lies within a person. Sports creates determination and a competiveness that can be used in other areas of life, not just sports. There are millions of kids who attempt to become professional athletes but as the level of competition increases the number of athletes decreases, very few of them ever becoming a professional athlete but they are able to take what they have learned from sports into different professions in life. When a kid spends hours in the backyard perfecting his swing it can translate to the kid spending hours of hard work in his job. Companies and business like to hire ex-athletes because they already know what kind of person they are, hardworking and
Ian Frazier compares marginal activities to blue-sky research in his short essay “In Praise of Margins”. Blue-sky research is described as research with no direct motive, it is simply done out of curiosity. Marginal activities are similar to blue-sky research due to the fact that they are done out of fun and as a way to see what is out there in the world. Frazier explained that the world marginal has a negative connotation to it. When something or someone is described as marginal, most commonly it is to imply that they do not contribute much to society and have little to no importance. But can activities that allow us to take a break from our hectic lifestyles really be seen as unimportant? I believe that marginal place and activities are
In Frazier’s essay, “In Praise of Margins”, Frazier stresses the importance of how finding your marginal place and doing purposeless ideas can have an impact on a person’s life. Frazier reflects back to his childhood and expresses how his marginal place was an important necessity as he was growing up. To Frazier, marginal places is “where you can try out ideas that you might be afraid to admit to with people looking on” (58). A marginal place allows you to develop and explore creations that can be seen foolish to society but scientific by nature. Frazier’s marginal stresses how it is important to find your marginal place. Frazier’s explains how the woods was his marginal space (58). The woods allowed him venture out and explore as a child. In the woods Frazier would spend much of his time with his friends and do purposeless things (57). He understands as an adult the woods was his marginal place that allowed him create memories that can not be replaceable. A
Chris was the type to always value the beauty of nature and solitude. He had friends, but he could always entertain himself for hours. As a child he grew close to his mother’s father who taught McCandless about the wilderness. Besides his love for the outdoors, Chris also had a strange detachment from society's rules. Both Thoreau and London spoke wonders to Chris. One of his favorite reads was “Civil Disobedience.” Many people saw this quirk within McCandless. All throughout his high school career, Chris only received one bad grade. That grade was only because he refused to write in the format presented to him. His father connected it with how he played racquetball. Chris never took any direction in his play style. Chris McCandless’ identity was in tune with his rebellious personality and his intense connection with the outdoors. Between hitchhiking from one state to the next, living off the land for months at
School sponsored sports have helped many kids who are less fortunate succeed in life. School sports have even allowed many athletes to get an education and make it to college from playing sports. In an article by Marv Dumon “Using sports to motivate inner-city youth” from The examiner. They explain the importance of some type of sport that is provided in order to help the inner city youth and keeping them out of trouble and on the right path. In the article Dumon writes “With a high level of unemployment and a bad economy, it is important that the youth of today are given as many opportunities as possible. Not only will it keep them off the streets and out of jail, it will also motivate them to make something of their life, rather than feeling like they are stuck with nowhere to go. One of the most popular types of motivation in the city, is sport. It draws in both males and females, and is used to focus their anger and competitive streaks, and channel it to accomplish goals and form self-confidence.” Sports in schools have provided many opportunities for
...e the essays share many of the same ideas, they differ in the message the authors are trying to deliver. Lopez hopes to inspire children to become nature conservationists in “Children in the Woods,” while Bass hopes to offer a glimpse inside a hunter’s mind in “Why I Hunt.” Both essays discuss the importance of a vivid imagination and the strong spiritual relationships that are nurtured in the natural world. Both authors credit their environments for their opportunity to experience nature in a way that most of society is unable to.
The quality of Peter’s life is diminished because he does not even “want to do anything, but look and listen and smell” (143). The children do not learn how to cook, at most they observe the cooking being done. The result is a life without accomplishments. Everything in their lives is done for them without the need for their participation. The knowledge children gain from experiences, trying and succeeding or even trying and failing that is key to every child’s growth has been taken away from them because everything is done for the them painting a picture and tying shoes are only two examples of experiences that every child should have. Peter and Wendy do not have an opportunity to participate in these simple and basic experiences because the children feel that if they see something being done it is the same as doing it themselves. The children’s fixation with technology is teaching them to be reliant and not do anything for themselves changing their lifestyle from independent to dependant. The lack of experiences the children have is ruining their life slowly, leading to a poorer quality of
Gould writes that “Leading youth development experts contend that one of the potential benefits of sports participation is the development of initiative or the ability to set and go after goals.” High school sports help kids to learn how to set and go after goals; an important lesson for every stage in their lives. Gould also states that the “National Federation of State High School Activity Associations indicates that [high school sports] promote ‘participation and sportsmanship’” (Are High School Sports Good For Kids?). In addition to setting and achieving goals, school sports develop participation and sportsmanship and positively build character in children. Overall, along with helping kids become more sociable, high school sports promote goal setting, participation, and sportsmanship in
This means that they push more for their goals. In the text it says, “Not only are school sports justified on educational grounds, but researchers have shown that participation in them and other extracurricular activities have positive effects on adolescents. For example, a multi-year study conducted in Michigan has shown that children who participate in sports have increased educational aspirations, closer ties to school and increased occupational aspirations in youth.” This quote shows that they will push harder to get their dream jobs and goals. There will be more goals set for what they want to be in life. Also, they will work harder in school because of the sports. Overall, school sports will help students positively.
However, these are not appropriately being used by the parents “In Australia approximately 74 per cent of children aged between five and 14 years participated in either organised sports or cultural activities in 2009 (ABS, 2009 as cited in Simoncini & Caltabiono, 2012) . Parents involve their children in these activities to gain the extra skills to cope with the changing demands of society. They even don’t think that the child is at a developmental level to learn all these extra-curricular activities. Gesell identified developmental milestones to specific age groups for parents to track the growth of the children and not to push them to learn too much. Walker also argued that there is nothing wrong in extra-curricular activities but should be scheduled in a way that children don’t get tired. This tiredness can create boredom, which affect their learning and
In conclusion, it is explicit that sports is a positive influence on athletes, spectators and the world as a whole as it teaches imperative life lessons as well as allows its participants to experience enjoyment, fulfilment and gratification. As mentioned previously sports enables its players to bring out the best in others and create unity amongst groups as team work is so essential. This highlights the views I have in conjunction with the views of Joe Humphrey.