Children Need To Play

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky argues that younger children should not be involved in overly competitive sports. Statsky wrote that organized competitive sports were to the disadvantage of children both physically and psychologically. In youth athletics, some parents and coaches put their own dreams in front of their children 's’ well-being by stressing winning. Statsky concludes “all organized sports activities” to be remade as a more enjoyable game regardless of each athlete’s ability and athleticism. The author states many issues that kids have when they are forced to play a sport just to win or that they don’t enjoy. Some kids just don 't enjoy sports, but their parents force it on them. Certain organized sports programs promote winning over physical skills and self-esteem. Statsky brings up valid points that early childhood shouldn’t involve intense physical competition, which is associated with the risk of injury to the body and mind.

Competitive sports in some cases are becoming very unhealthy for children. Most children would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team. Youth sports are a great idea to get children up and active, as well as improve their social skills. Just like every other thing in life it is important to practice and work hard to achieve success. However it is unhealthy to push for results over the needs or wants of the child. Aside from the mental stress that young athletes may experience from intense training and physical play long lasting injures is now a growing concern. Fact is competitive sports is a double edge sword if done right it is the greatest thing world, but if done wrong it can be very unhealthy for a child.

Being a professional athlete is one of the most commonly heard dreams of a young boy or girl who currently elementary school. Whether it is realistic or not, these kids will be participating in the sport that they wish to thrive in. But, time after time we hear adults complain about their child’s insane soccer schedule, or how they have to spend their whole weekend traveling for games. The parents complaints shouldn’t be the topic of discussion, in fact the only opinions that matter are the children. The question shouldn’t be asking whether or not youth sports are too intense, it should be asking if it is worth it. If a child loves what they’re doing then they have every reason to continue playing their sport, but if they are not all in, he or she has to question whether or not all the craziness is worth it.

Each year in the United States, more than 36 million school-aged children participate in an “organized sport” (“Youth Sports Statistics”). Especially over the past few years, many studies have proved or disproved the idea that sports are beneficial for young kids. Those studies have found that youth sports have both positive and negative effects on young children, and research shows parents and coaches have the greatest effect on a child’s experience.

Jessica Statsky, in her essay, “Children need to Play, Not Compete” attempts to refute the common belief that organized sports are good for children. She sees organized sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, both emotionally and physically. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, “When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children” (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete”, Jessica Statsky talks about the different kinds of students and their approach and mental and physical ability and pressure towards Sports. Statsky differentiates between two sets of children who have physical and mental attributes and towards sports. She gives a few examples and changes that have taken place in the past decades in the sports scenario. When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children. She further states that children should not be pressurized or forced upon their performance and improvement rather they should first be given a chance to understand the sport, their potential and the way in which they develop

The article relates to sports because it refers to gender ideology because it identifies the “children as male and female” and the “roles of females and males in society” and this article describes how these children were treated according to status and gender (Coakley, 2015). This information coincides with information in our text. According to (Coakley 2015) organized youth sports children perceive them as a way “to enhance their status among their peers” robbing them of enjoying the sport because it is controlled by adults “that focus on the improvement which can

Fewer kids play amid pressure,” shows that children are giving up the fun in sports because the parents want to one-up each other. In the beginning of youth sports, it was just seen as a fun activity for the children, but the parents started getting involved, and the children were shown that this was not a fun sport but a competition that they had to win, no matter what. The article stated this when Amanda Visak explained that, “Amanda Visak, an exercise science professor at George Washington University, recently surveyed nearly 150 children about what they found fun in sports...the kids identified 81 factors contributing to their happiness. Number 48: winning...playing in tournaments, cool uniforms and expensive equipment” (Rosenwald 3). Because of the parents’ competitions, the children think that what is important is winning the game and uniforms, while in reality it should be having fun and trying your best while with your

In the essay "Children Need to Play not Compete," author, Jessica Statsky, tries to convince parents that organized sports can be dangerous by informing them of the dangers of children’s sports. Statsky warns that both noncontact and contact sports played from the ages of six to twelve years old could have long-term effects for the child as a player and a fan. Statsky lists many reasons for her opinion including the risks for physical and psychological harm. Statsky has a very convincing argument and many valid points in her essay; however, her argument is inconsistent because she does not fully support all claims and fails to take the parent’s opinions into account. Statsky's thesis statement is thoroughly supported throughout the essay using

In light of Jessica Statsky’s book ‘Children need to play, not compete’, she argued that, with the vivid increase of sporting competition lately in the United States, children have been exposed to the adults hard and rigorous training by devoted parents and coaches at their tender age making a game that is supposed to be fun and joy look hectic and strenuous to them due to the standard of training they are made to go through and also the belief that they must always win thereby making them lose the spirit of sportsmanship, and neither gaining satisfaction nor benefiting from them. In as much as sports are good for physical, mental and emotional growth, it should be organized in a manner that the youths will enjoy the game at the end of it rather than the fear of being hurt or defeated by the other competitors.

Competitive children sports used to be community sports like Little League and AYSO with fun practices and trips to the snack shack, but now they have been taken over by competitive club sports, private lessons and far away tournaments. In the past 5 years the kids sports industry has increased from a 5 billion dollar industry to a 15 billion dollar industry. Many people think that the growth of children’s sports is benefiting their child for their future, but I believe that children should not play competitive club sports because of time loss, cost, and children being forced to play a single sport. Competitive sports take time away time from family, friends, community activities, and school.

What makes Jessika Statsky’s “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” an effective piece in the arguments on whether the competitive sports may harm children both physically and psychologically, is her use of clear thesis statement and a full forecast of the reasons she offers to justify her position. Statsky carefully picks her key terms, such as by sports, for example, she means to describe both contact and non-contact sports that emphasize competition. Also she clearly defines to her audience that she is mainly concerned about children of age six to twelve years old.

In “Children need to Play, Not compete,” Jessica Statsky focuses on the severity of competitive sports for kids. She is of the opinion that these sports are extremely damaging and there are fewer advantages when it comes to taking part in such sports. The extreme pressure of winning that becomes obligatory for kids by their folks and coaches is additionally caused due to the guidelines of such sports. The writer suggests that this pressure might cause persistent psychological problems and greatly have an effect on a child’s performance. These sports conjointly provoke physical aggression among kids, which can end in injuries that may last for a long period of time. The author categorizes such sports to be job-like and fewer fun for kids. The main target of such sports is barely competition. Maybe, being competitive might facilitate the kids later in their life but losing in

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete.” Jessica Statsky discusses a serious issue of competitive sports that has now become a major part of the life of the young adult. She is of the opinion that these competitive sport can have harmful effects on a child’s mind. The immense physical pressure is really harmful as well. The injuries due to these extreme sports can take a lot of time to heal themselves. Statsky says that these competitive sports are designed keeping in mind the strength and age of adult which deem them unfit for younger children. The children should not be forced to play these sports. Jessica talks about the strain the sports but on the developing phase of a child’s life both mentally and physically. Due to the demanding nature of these sports, they start to feel like a job rather than a leisure activity, says Jessica Statsky. Children should be able to enjoy the sport and not consider it as a burden. Jessica is really alarmed by the fact that the children’s sports

Sports give people in America great childhood memories, bringing joy to the parents of the children and the children themselves. These sports vary greatly in this country, but the two most popular childhood sports are soccer and baseball. While baseball is the sport, T-ball is usually the sport that children start with. In many of these sports as children the rules are so much different that they make it impossible to have a real winner. Children should be learning from a young age that life is full of competition and if you do not know what competition is, you will likely not be very successful in life. These sports do not need to be so full of competition that it causes children to hurt each other, but they still do need some competition in their lives. Digging deeper into the meaning of competition is important to understand how far children should be pressured to compete in sports. There are many reasons to not compete, but they are easily overrun by the reason as to why the children should be competitive.