With a growing interest in weight training younger children are beginning to lift weights. Which brings about questions about when children should be allowed to start lifting and what degree of difficulty should they be allowed to attempt. This topic has sparked a debate about whether or not a person under the age of eighteen should be allowed to competitively lift weights in the Olympics. Many believe that the risk of injuring children is not worth the opportunity for them to succeed in the Olympics. The risk is not as enormous as it is made out to be. Anyone who has a fully mature body and is over the age of thirteen should be allowed to participate in Olympic weightlifting. If done correctly lifting weights is a great way to stay active and healthy for a person of any age. One of …show more content…
It has long been thought that lifting weights at a very young age could stunt a child's growth, but more recent research has found that to be an inaccurate assumption. Dr. Na’ana Constantini was asked if lifting could stunt growth and his response was “ Lifting weights is not dangerous for teenagers if done correctly, with weights up to five kilos or so. It can do them good, by improving their motor ability” (qtd. in Siegel). I agree with this quote, but I feel that the weight mentioned is too broad. A weight of five kilos is only a little over eleven pounds, which would be appropriate for some teens, but the limit to lifting should not be set by age but rather by physical maturity. “ The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids avoid advanced use of weights such as in competitive sports of weightlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding until their bodies
A topic that has recently come into great interest in the media is whether or not children and teens should play competitive sports. Some may say that they should because sports can teach valuable life lessons. Others believe the chance of injury is too great. While some children can sustain injuries from sports, studies have shown that children are more likely to injure themselves biking than playing football or any other sport. “Sports do not build character.
The 2050 Summer Olympics are quickly approaching. Dan from Chicago has dreamed of making it to the Olympics since he was very young. Through his adolescent years, Dan struggled with obesity. He would try diets and workout plans but nothing would really work for him. Even though Dan is overweight, he still has the ability to run faster than all the other kids. All he wants to do in life is go to the Olympics. He believes that is his calling. When he tells people about his plans to become an Olympic athlete, often people say, "You 're way too big to be an Olympic sprinter," or "You don 't look like someone who would be in the Olympics." Dan starts to think to himself, "I might actually be too fat for this." Doubt creeps into his mind. He begins
For years gymnastics has been a sport that many children participate in. But as the years have gone by it has turned into something other than a place for kids to grow and learn. Its overwhelming commitment has continued to replace kids’ childhoods with stress, mental and physical pain and eating disorders. Many results have come from this change in the gymnastics society. Gymnasts have come to a point where they have been told and directed to understand that winning is the only important factor in gymnastics. “ It’s about the elite child athlete and the American obsession with winning that has produced a training environment wherein results are bought in at any cost, no matter how devastating. It’s about how cultural fixation on beauty and weight on youth has shaped the sport and driven the athletes into a sphere beyond the quest for physical performance.” (Ryan 5)
The article shares with the reader that children who join competitive sports at a young age can learn discipline and healthy habits when performed right. Jordan strongly suggests athletes, coaches and parents need to be properly educated on safe training techniques and know how to read their children when they have an injury. This way the young athletes can join in on as many sport teams as they want. Over the recent years many regulations and laws have been passed, such as The Lystedt laws that “mandate a gradual return-to-play protocol to better protect youth athletes in all sports from the risks of preventable concussions”(Jordan). This will protect the players who do decide to specialize in one sport at an early
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.
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.
For example, an article states, “A 2006 study on female athletes found that when female students are given more opportunity to participate in athletics in high school, their weight and body mass improve.” ("Home." PublicSchoolReview.com.) Many kids are becoming overweight. “The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the percentage of children aged 12 to 19 considered obese increased from 5 percent in 1980 to 21 percent in 2012.” ("Pros and Cons of Middle School Sports.") There needs to be Middle school sports or even more kids will become obese. When a kid starts playing a sport, he could really get hooked on it and play every week. Before you know it, your kid could be losing more and more weight until they are not overweight anymore. Also, another article states, “Middle school sports such as track and field or cross-country, which can have large squads, provide an excellent opportunity for students to get in shape.” ("Pros and Cons of Middle School Sports.") Students that join a sport and like it won’t be overweight. They will be too focused on their sport that they will be aware of what and how much they eat because they want to do well in their
Young athletes put in danger by the competition, aggressiveness, and intensity of sports. Kids everyday are being pushed past limits by coaches parents and fans. The intensity of sports has become so high they are causing mental and physical exhaustion. Sports like wrestling has kids eat different to either lose gain weight. Football player, Baseball player, and even cheerleader have to work out in extreme temperatures. Some kids involved in competitive sports have been taking weight lifting classes and even just conditioning. The youth are being put in danger due to how competitive, aggressive, and intense youth sports have become.
Athletes are always searching for ways to enhance their performance. Recently, beginning in the 1950s, that search has included the use of illegal substances like steroids and growth hormones. Illegal substances have been used widely by athletes in hop es of achieving the desired Olympic gold medal or multi-million dollar contract. Some nations, for example the late East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, have mandated the use of steroids by their athletes. The downside of using those illegal substances is that because they are illegal, getting caught using them can lead to losing that coveted gold medal, a lifetime ban from sports, and a total loss of honor and dignity. This is why the search is now on to find some legal means of enhancing athletic per formance.
Currently it is an estimated that at least 6.67 percent of high school seniors in the United States have tried steroids, which is 500,000 males between the ages of 17 and 18 (Anabolic Steroids). The pressure of steroids on teenagers is constantly drilled into their heads because they associate increased strength with perfection. Teenagers are under immense pressure to be perfect. Kids are pressured to do well in school, sports, and any other activities that they are participating in. Anything other than the best is unacceptable and failure which strikes and leads to disrespect. Failure has the sole purpose of tearing people from their self confidence and lending them to be insecure, questioning their abilities and themselves. It does not help that kids have role models that choose the easy way to accomplish their goals. It also sends a message to those who admire them that taking certain sacrifices to reach self-goals and standards are very much acceptable. Hard work and determination has become something of the past when it is possible to do the same amount of work and receive results faster if you just take a couple risks. Steroids should not only be banned from sports, but athletes who are found to have used steroids should receive a more distinct and severe punishment. No matter how it is said or defended steroids truly are cheating. Steroids are becoming a substitute for hard work and determination.
L., W. R. (1997, Sept 26). Youth Fitness. Retrieved Jan 10, 2011, from CQ Researcher7 841-864: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Athletes have to be young in order to play in a sport. In many sports, such as tennis, the minimum age is 14. The reason why the age limit is as young as 14, is because there are many amazing sport players that started at such a young age. These talented young athletes shouldn’t have to wait until after high school to become professional. Also, a diver named Marjorie Gestring, was the youngest person ever to win a gold medal
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 ...
It is amazing what athletes will do to achieve higher levels of performance and to sometimes get the extra edge on the competition. Most of the time people do not realize the long-term effects that result from the decisions they make early in life. This resembles the use of steroids in a person’s life.
Also, scientists have discovered that the part of the brain that weighs risks versus reward and impulse control is not fully mature in adolescents. The brain is arguably the most important organ in the body and should not be exposed to so much danger. All in all, if children were allowed to participate in extreme sports, it would be very detrimental to their whole life including their mental health, physical health, and ability to learn. With all of these risks and patients who have gone through horrible injuries and pain, they can surely say how it's not worth it. It is best for them to wait until they are an adult to make such a crucial decision that affects their risk of danger and health