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
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
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
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.
Athletics has made a difference in my life through its redefining of the word “success.” Before I got involved with track and cross country, success was measured by goals I set and achieved for myself that made me happy. Since then, I have realized that success is much more gratifying when it is dependent on making those around me proud. In track, success is when I have trained hard enough so that I am able to help my relay team win a race or break the school record. In cross country, success is when I have built up enough endurance to contribute to the team score and help my team move on to the state meet. This mentality has translated to my daily life, as I am constantly working hard to please those around me. At school, I always do my homework and get good grades so that my teachers do not have to focus extra energy on getting me to do my work. At work, I strive to go above and beyond my typical duties so that I can lessen the responsibilities of my co-workers. At home, I help out with chores without being asked so that my parents can have one less thing
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
...cess at school. Participating in sports is an easy way to improve both your grades as well as your mental and physical health. From personal experience, I know that when I have sports practice, it is much easier to concentrate, try hard, and get school work done a certain amount of time. On days when I do not have sports, I tend to do other things besides school work like watch television or play on my phone and the hours seem to fly by without getting anything productive done. When I finally get around to my school work, I am tired, stressed and I don’t want to try as hard because I want to hurry and get it finished as soon as possible. By playing sports over the years and meeting so many people around town, I have felt a better sense of belonging here at OIS and have learned many skills that helped me in the classroom and will help me all throughout my life.
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
Those lessons are far more valuable, and are more influential. An example of one of these benefits is academic success. Kindergarten through fourth grade students develop and improve cognitive skills (Piche). The types of academic success ranges from test scores to grades. Reasons why sports can produce academic success is because of the discipline and dedication. Sports require hard work and dedication. Students can apply the same principles from sports to the class room. Last example is learning more about yourself. Sports can create self-confidence, and help people become more independent of their selves. Also, kids are able to trust themselves by doing sports, and it helps when coaches encourage children to do something. This helps the child knowing that they believe in themselves. Doing sports helps people develop social skills. This is because when a child takes part of a sport, then they are on a team. As a team you interact with other children and interact with the coaches also. Kids learn leadership skills, team building skills, and communication skills. Sports help kids set goals, and these goals can be short-term or even long-term
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