Overall, I think this is why sports are too intense for teens and children. People should get less worked up about sports and try to focus on what is healthy, safe, and beneficial to their children. Sports are about having fun and competing, not being a stressful or dangerously intense place for adolescents.
Some schools force students to participate in organized school sports. However, I believe that schools should not make this a requirement. Some students may have medical conditions, family situations that don't allow them to participate in organized school sports, or they simply may not have the time.
Physical activity and fitness is a very important aspect of life. In most cases, people are happier, have better self – esteems, and are more successful when they are healthy. By virtue of that scenario, there is no better time to develop a healthy life style than childhood. It is easy for parents to get their children on the right track by introducing them to sports at a young age.
The early maturity of physical development in children can be broken into two categories: early advancement of motor skills and precocious puberty. A child’s fine and gross motor skills can become fine tuned because of the growing popularity of youth athletics and physical health programs. The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals states that “sport has the natural ability to draw on, develop, and showcase individual strengths and capacities.” It also mentions that sports enhance physical growth and development while simultaneously enhancing psychosocial health and development (“Sport for Development”). Programs like S.M.A.R.T., Sports Management, Academics, and ...
In a CNN article, Kelly Wallace said that more than 3.5 million children younger than fourteen need treatment for sports related injuries (1). Many children are getting hurt in sports, and the benefits , may not be worth the countless concussions. The brains of young children have not fully developed and hard hits to the head can be life-threatening. The Roque News wrote an article on students playing sports, and they said, “In 2009 two high school students died from multiple hits to the head…”(McGough 1). Now innocent teenagers died from a contact sport. The constant jarring of the head finally killed two high schools students providing sports can be extremely dangerous. There are some downsides that make school sports an inadequate decision.
When a child lacks the natural born talent of athleticism, they can be destroyed emotionally and physically. The 2005 Youth Sports Report Card rated parental behavior and involvement as “unacceptable and needing improvement”(Citizenship Through Sports Alliance,2005). Community sports have “lost their child-centered focus” and has become “too specialized and over interested in parents”(Citizenship Through Sports Alliance,2005). Failing parental expectations, the child will lose any enjoyment felt previously in participation. Their desire to play is diminished, confidence decreases and anxiety overwhelms their innocent minds. Something that was created to add enjoyment and positively influence their life becomes a nightmare that they are unable to cope with. They become humiliated due to inadequately fulfilling their peer 's expectations as well as their
The benefits of participating in sports are too great to prohibit a kid to play based on the risk of suffering a concussion. According to Dr. William Meehan, the director of the sports concussion clinic at Massachusetts Children’s Hospital, “The risk of sustaining a sport-related concussion, however, is outweighed by the tremendous benefits that athletes derive from participation in sports” (37). There is risk in just about anything so the fact that there are benefits attributed toward taking part in sports should make playing a no brainer. These skills can be translated to help them succeed in the future, “Through sports, children learn about competition, fair-play, problem-solving, and social interaction. Football potentially brings all of these desirable behaviors and skills together” (McClemont). These abilities are pertinent to having success in whatever juncture one encounters, so what better w...
...n, most of the studies conducted yield positive relationships between a child’s cognitive processes, social skills, and physical development. Although there could be error in the studies and reports due to bias, self-report, and false negative or false positive errors, the overall results conclude that physical activity benefits a child’s mental, social, and physical abilities. Learning key values such as honesty, teamwork and fair play at an early age through physical activity and sports, yields healthy and well rounding individuals. Physical activity and sports participation at a young age can help a child’s growth tremendously, but one should also be cautious of pushing a child too far. Overall, the positive effects of physical activity during childhood triumphs any negative, which can be fixed, and leads to stronger mind, body, and soul.
Some of the effects can turn into very serious issues. Sports are a great thing to watch, but on the other hand everyone needs a childhood not just of sports ”We have a generation of children that have been pushed to achieve parental dreams instead of their own, and prodded to do more, more, more and better, better, better. The pressure and anxiety is stealing one thing our kids will never get back; their childhood” (The Race to Nowhere in Youth Sports). Childhood is one thing every kid needs to experience at a young age, sports can happen any time during childhood however don’t let it take over your childhood. If they want to play sports at that age that’s the parent 's choice although “Today’s athletes start earlier than ever, with kids as young as 2 or 3 taking sports lessons and joining leagues by age 5. About 26.1 million children, more than half of all 6 to 17 year-olds, suit up and play a team sport” (Hyman). At the age of 2 or 3 toddlers can get hurt way too easily. At that age, most don’t have a concept of what is going on during the game. Children need a say of what they want to play “Parents have too much control in our sports, the two and three year olds don’t need to be playing yet. It’s the parents that force the kids to play at that age” (Hyman). Not every kid will play college or even professional, but yet if we start them even younger the more we burn them out and no longer want to play. Sports can cause
In addition, by playing a sport, you can significantly lower the likelihood of becoming obese or overweight in your future years. According to The Aspen Institute, “Adolescents who play sports are eight times as likely to be active at age 24 as adolescents who do not play sports.” “77% of adults age 30+ who play sports today played sports as school-aged children. Only 3% of adults who play sports currently did not play when they were young.” Says Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at Harvard University. Playing a sport at a youthful age is very important in order to ensure that you are healthy in the future.
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.
Sports are a popular pastime among all ages and types of people. People not only participate in them for fun, but also for money, physical fitness, rush of competition, and for many other personal reasons. Playing sports is especially common among young people in schools. Athletics are great and enjoyable for many reasons, but there can be a point where sports participation can go too far and become negative for children and adults. Sports specialization for young people is an increasing trend that results in sports having a negative impact on individuals and society.
youth sports [were] the one haven for good sportsmanship," says Darrell Burnett, a clinical child psychologist and youth sports psychologist. "Not anymore. It's not just a game anymore." With technology (etc) distracting our children with violence and so on, we cannot afford to ruin what sports may do for them. With sports being just one of the few things left that can contribute to success in life, education, and health, parents need not to put any sort of unnecessary pressure on their kids at such a young age, or any age for that matter, ever.
Many would disagree with me and say that high school sports actually have more benefits than negativities for a student. For example a student in sports would be more active which would make them fitter and healthier. A student that in a team sport would make more friends which would improve their social skills and increase their
Rosewater, Ann. "Playing Well - Organized Sports and the Health of Children and Youth." Up2Us - Home. Up2Us, May 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.