Essay on Moral Development in Youth Sport

42 percent polled say it is appropriate for children to begin playing tackle football younger than age 14. Parents are starting to hold their kids out of football and other sports which is keeping them from learning the game and learning social skills early in life. Youth sports have been a part of many kids’ lives for as long as the sports have existed. Youth sports keep kids active and helps them get out of the house. Youth sports help kids develop social skills at a young age and they gain a better understanding of the game. As a result, youth sports are important parts in kids’ lives because they help kids develop social skills and they help them get a better understanding of the game, even though there are some safety issues.

America’s baseball diamonds, soccer fields, hockey rinks, and basketball courts have never been so busy with children. The number of kids involved in an organized sport is not what is so groundbreaking. It’s the way in which children are playing or how their parents are arranging for them to play that may be cause for concern (Ferguson). Much controversy surrounds youth sports with the biggest disagreements coming over parental involvement and the intensity of play. Although there are many benefits for team participation, there is a growing fear that the negatives are starting to outweigh the positives.

The argument has been made that sports people should not be considered to be role models in our society. The subject is indeed a contentious one considering that people are generally social being and are highly influenced by the actions of other people. While parents have the responsibility of shaping the mentalities of their children, it should be noted that the attitudes of our young ones are easily shaped by what is happening around them. Having

One thing almost every young child looks forward to is the activity of play. Kids love nothing more than to go outside, run around with friends, and get dirty. If children are already active at a young age, why not encourage them to continue by enrolling them in an organized youth sport program? Young people will gain many positive experiences by participating in organized physical activities, but none as important and influential as the social skills, physical skills, and mental skills developed and nurtured during their time in youth sport. As a result, the young participants can continue to build upon and cultivate these skills which will ultimately be transferred into their development as successful adults. Along with the social and

In a culture where sportsmanship is lacking, it is critical that stakeholders in high school athletics work together to reestablish sportsmanship and ethics to the forefront of education-based athletics. In fact, “ The National Federation, the governing body for public high school sports, would like for the number one priority of high school athletics to be GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP” (as cited in Churdar, 2015, p. 2). Sportsmanship means respecting the opponent, the officials, and the game. There are many people and groups who influence the actions and beliefs of athletes either in a positive or negative manner, so it is important that these groups maintain a high view of sportsmanship and take proactive measures to ensure that good sportsmanship is a priority for high school sports.

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.

Fair play can be defined as the upholding of fairness before, during and after, and directly relating to a game, match or event. You should always inform players of the consequences that will occur if they do not play fair or cheat. Cheating in sport should never be tolerated because it ruins the game for every one. Fair play can often be best promoted through a code of conduct that clearly defines the rules of the games and the do’s and don’ts. Equality in sport is the practice of fairness and the upholding of the rules also to ensure that all individuals are respected and have equal opportunities regardless of their sex, gender, religion, sexuality or ethnic background.

Character development is not something that can be gained or developed over night. Character development is the multiple life skills that an individual builds within themself throughout their lifespan. When a person develops good character in their early years of life, they will benefit in the long run because they used the life skills they gained and put them to use, becoming a successful individual in all aspects of life.

These days, there is too much pressure on children who participate in organized sports because of the unnecessary parental involvement they experience. A growing concern amongst those involved in youth sports is that certain aspects of parental involvement become detrimental to the development and experiences of young athletes. Early emphasis on winning, making money, and the disruption of education can exceedingly affect ones desire to further participate in a sport later on in his/her life.

It’s important for a child to understand the positive impacts of competition despite a loss in a game. Adults go through competition everyday, from getting a job after a successful interview or missing it from an unsuccessful interview to promotion because of work well done or demotion at work. The basics of competition taught early helps a child succeed later in life. Team Sport equips a child to cope with competition in a friendly environment. Achieving a goal by being part of a team will help a child gain healthy competitive skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Sports also help a child cope well with both a loss and a win as part of life. Learning to positively handle both the winning and losing side of playing a sport combined with good sportsmanship is a characteristic that carries over from childhood to

Students are full of energy, all of which cannot be spent in studies only. The extra energy can lead students to do wrong or unwanted activities which are harmful not only for the health but studies of students as well. This is avoidable through sports. They are the outlets of surplus energy. Students who play sports have their mind occupied and are less likely to have their mind wander to wrongful things. A student learns that while playing, he has to play not for his own good but for the good and success of whole team. He or she is to keep in mind the success of his or her school. Sports help students lead a more corporate and mature life. Sports teach our students that the ups and downs are the inevitable aspects of life and should be taken in strides. Playing for a sports can help them experience hardships and allow them to face the trials, hardships and various rigors of daily life in the future. The very breath of sportsmanship is fair play. Sports are another name of honesty, integrity and loyalty for students. Thus a good sportsman can be the ideal citizen of the country.

I saw in his eyes sheer delight and the joy of accomplishment. He had successfully faced a pitcher older and bigger and had fought off pitch after pitch before knocking a single into left field. His base hit drove in a run, continued an inning and fueled a rally which brought the team a victory from what looked like a certain defeat. He was willing to be taught and was willing to try. Success was secondary to the life skills he was mastering. Character traits will certainly be developed as one participates in team sports, but to attain positive character traits will require deliberate efforts by parents, adults, teammates and even leaders of the organization itself.

The article that we have chosen for our scholarly article was “Athletics as a Source for Social Status among Youth”. The main reason for this article is to further the understanding of sport as a source for youth popularity among a national US sample of 3rd through 12th graders. They first review previous work on the issue to discuss the roles gender, grade level, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status might play in the association between sport and social status and present there hypotheses regarding the relationship of each of these variables. Then they examine the relationship between athletic status and popularity using quantitative descriptive analysis and logistic regression to determine if this relationship varies according to gender, race/ethnicity, grade level, and socioeconomic status. The central purpose of this study is to examine first, whether youth perceive sport as a status enhancer for themselves and their peers. Second, to determine if variation in this perception can be accounted for by student’s athletic status, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and grade level.

Having gone through both elementary and middle school, we have all run into peers who spent a lot of time and energy trying to act like the most popular athlete in any given time period. Kids often try to imitate controversial athletes to bring attention to themselves. Such behavior can bring popularity to a young person. A sad outcome of violence in adult sports is that youth sports end up mirroring adult sports. Young people are encouraged to be aggressive, and often those who are the stars of the team are those who know how to "stretch the rules". Often, young people who do play by the rules are relegated to the bench. As a result, youth athletic teams, even

Raising children in today’s society is not for the faint of heart. Raising children has never been easy, but it is especially difficult in youth sports today. Coaches and parents are putting a lot of pressure on our young sons and daughters. The pressure to succeed in sports at