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Reading this chapter made me reflect not only on my own pressures but on the pressures that we will put on the future generations to come. Especially when I read the Merton: The Goal-Means Gap section. From an early age we are expected to be ambitious and hard working as well as expected to be the best at whatever you are involved in; however, in my opinion we can only be the best that we are capable of being. Nothing more and nothing less. It is ingrained into our brains and brings out the competitive nature of some while others may be left behind due to not living up to the expectations, our pressures, or simply rejecting what is considered “the norm”. This quote simply proves my point. “If you simply want to enjoy the pleasure of playing
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.
Local histories written in the nineteenth century are often neglected today. Yet from these accounts, one can see a pattern develop: the myth of Indian extinction, the superiority of White colonists and also to understand how American attitudes and values evolved. The myths were put forth for a reason according to Jean O’Brien. O’Brien explains how the process came to fruition in Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England. In the majority of local town histories, Indians are mentioned in passing, as a past that will never return. Indians were ancient, whereas English colonists brought modernity to New England. Jean O’Brien argues that local histories were the primary means by which white European Americans asserted
The “push to be perfect” (Thomas) is at an all-time high. Pressure for perfection from peers, parents, teachers and coaches is so unreasonably high that many students don’t think that they will ever be able to achieve it. A student feels that it is impossible to get good grades, be athletic, in multiple organizations, and most of all appear to be happy. Students have turned to cheating, drug/ alcohol abuse, and even suicide to try and cope. They are competing with friends for top spots, and believe that if they don’t beat them, they are a failure. Not only other students, but parents play a big roll, too. Their own parents and the parents of their peers will compare kids. New Trier High School’s Jim Conroy said that the biggest problem about pressure comes from the parents who compare (Robbins). With all...
Kohn’s claim about the nature of competition is true to the extent that being better than someone will never be enough and it is destructive to base one’s success on another person’s failure. However, competition could potentially serve as a drive to push someone to their fullest potential,
This can help us to be more successful, teach us of challenging ourselves to reach new heights, never give up and motivate us to do more so to enhance our intelligence. Furthermore, having a growth attitude is not something conceptual or something no one but others can have. It’s an incredible inverse: there are particular things you can do each day to sustain a development attitude. In case I haven't made it clear enough already: skill is something you can cultivate, not merely something you're born with. You can become more creative, more intelligent, more athletic, more artistic, and more successful by focusing on the process, not the outcome. Instead of worrying about winning the championship, commit to the process of training like a champion. It's not about the result, it's about building the identity of the type of person who gets to enjoy those
In light of Merton’s essays, compare the role of fear and lies as destructive forces in society. Why does Merton consider them to be detrimental? Illustrate your answer with examples from Merton and one other author discussed in class since the mid-term essay.
Functional theory is the defined as a framework for building theory that sees society complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Augusta Comte and Herbert Spence looked at society as a living organism. For example, an animals or person has organs that function together so does society. Organic solidarity is social unity based on a division of labor that results in people depending on each other. Emile Durkheim developed organic solidarity to explain individuals’ workers to specific bodily organs and a group of people to a body. Different bodily organs serve different functions, without these organs the body would die, and so would the individual organs. Some of the different functions are education, religion, economics, and family. In a society individual workers perform different kinds of labor, without which society could not function, nor could individual workers succeed.
He is the author of many books including Sport, Play, and Ethical Reflection and the coauthor, with Craig Clifford, of Sport and Character: Reclaiming the Principles of Sportsmanship. In his book Sport, Philosophy, and Good lives professor Feezell’s research question is if it seems plausible to think of sports activities as meaningful and to believe that such activities contribute to a meaningful lives. In addition, the primary method utilized in this research consisted of many document analysis about many top athletes’ lives. In the research, professor Feezel found out that competition has a bigger essence of seeking to become good than rather the actual activity. In fact, in a deeper level, competition is the reference in the way the athlete’s identity is fixed in relation in how good they did. In other words, sport affect directly an athlete’s self-esteem which created a meaning in their lives. In fact, professor Feezell’s work is related to professor Pelling’s work in many ways. Both of them talked about how important is to an athlete to win a competition. They stated that how well they did in a competition can impact their lives. This work is relevant to the topic of why sports are important to college students because how good they are go directly to how the personal
With competition, people have incentive to improve. Last fall, my father had the idea for the two of us to have a competition and see who could do more sit-ups by the end of the year. This would be part of my offseason baseball training and his normal exercise. We were both doing hundreds of sit-ups a day, and I eventually won. In the end, we were both the winners because this was very good exercise for our body, which probably would not have been done without the competition. At the end of each of my basketball lessons, my coach and I would play a short game of one versus one. At first, he would always win. I grew tired of always losing to
“Students are being forced to play the game of “race to the top or get left behind”” (Etelson, 2015). The idea that success should be based on ability and talent of individuals is wrong because success should not be based on ability and talent of individuals. The pressure, the competitiveness, and the future all need to change before more kids go through an education system that is teaching them how to compete against fellow students rather than how to gain knowledge. It is time to level the playing
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...
As most athletes, who are dedicated to their sport, practice harder than athletes who just play sports for fun. However, there are disappointments in the sport. Many in which involve record holders (mostly in individual sports). Or some in which involve how state standings and/or championships are viewed. As stated by A.E. Housman, “The time you won your town the race we chaired you through the marketplace; man and boy stood cheering by, and home we brought you shoulder-high.” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 1092 lines 1-4]). As newer generations come into the sport, some are born with a gift unimaginable with great potential, people who set the school/state record cause a sadness in the record holder from the past.
I decided that I wanted to play a sport, I chose volleyball. Most of my friends played the sport so it wasn't hard for me to adjust and make new friends. Becoming a student athlete was a big adjustment for me, I could no longer float through my classes but I need to excel. And that's exactly what I did. For the first time in my high school career I made not only honor roll, but principal’s honor roll. For the first time my mom was proud of my report card, that made me even more proud. From then on I knew I wanted nothing less than what I earned, good grades and a proud family. From my decision to chose to become a student athlete not only make me work harder but, be great at everything I put my mind to. I had motivation to stay successful, to stay eligible. Three years ago if you were to ask me where I thought I would be my senior year, I probably would have told you low level classes barely making it by. Now here I am today excelling in my education preparing to take the next step in my future, college. Even if we don’t understand why we go through them, we have to be willing to let our obstacles become out
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
First, playing sports teaches students many valuable life lessons such as responsibility and a hard work ethic. Responsibility is a very crucial in life, and people use it everyday Responsibility ties into a student’s academics because a student needs to have responsibility to do well in school. According to Dr. David Geier, playing sports can actually increase success in the classroom. Numerous tests prove that athletes have higher GPA’s, higher standardized test scores, better attendance, fewer dropouts, and a better chance of going to college (Geier, D. 2012). Owning up to a mistake also falls into the category of making a mistake. When a student fails while playing a sport, he learns to face the fear of admitting he made an error. The second valuable life lesson playing sports teaches is a hard work ethic. “Sports are one of the best places for kids to learn the importance of practice and determination,” says Grown and Flown. Teammates depend on each other for participation and performance so without everyone working hard, the team will reach their maximum potential (Grown and Flown). A hard work ethic ties into everyday life because without out, a student would never accomplish anything.