Review Of Chapter Summary: Bling, Bombs, And The Bible

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.

In his new book Until it Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How it Harms Our Kids, author Mark Hyman shows how parents have turned youth sports into a high stakes game of poker at the expense of their children. Hyman’s explores the history of youth sports in our country and how it has evolved from a fun past time to much more intense sport with heavy participation of parents. This book not only takes a look into youth sports today it will expose a lot of the negativity surrounding it. Hyman does not just point the finger at other parents but offers his own account of

The purpose of this paper is to argue the fact that youth sports are not becoming too intense. After reading the New York Times article I decided to pick this topic and argue against this theory because as a division one athlete I have my own opinions. I picked three sources which can back up and prove that sports being too intense is very much your own opinion.

Youth sports in general is being reshaped because of how competitive americans are becoming. Every aspect of kids’ sports has become hypercompetitive hyper organized, and all consuming. The craziness in the culture of kids sports has led to the realization the world has changed. An estimated 40 million young adults are participating in a variety of organized sports For those 40 million apart of organized sports they have to give an almost total commitment to playing and being apart of the team (Ferguson). Sports are considered to be a shared cultural experience between many children, and they can

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.

By participating in competitive sports at an early age, kids develop life skills to help them with this dilemma. They learn that when they see others being successful, that it is due to the hard work they put in and not just by chance.

On page 338 “Lennon...out,” Farrey is speaking with Kevin Lennon a representative at the NCAA, who shares with him that when he was speaking with his daughter gymnastics coach, to try and lessen the 20 hours a week time commitment, in order for their family to have more time together, their coach was not amicable and replied either “you’re all in or all out.” This was a very surprising especially since his daughter was in fourth grade and the reason for the decrease in the time commitment was plausible. This shows that our outlook on youth athletics is somewhat flawed if children's families no longer take precedence over sports. On page 338 “His...abuse,” Farrey uses situational irony to emphasize the idea that parents competitiveness and actions towards officials are so abrasive that not even adult referees want to face that. Farrey claims the source of this behavior from parents, stems from the $1.5 billion dollars that is at stake in terms of scholarship money. To me this shows that we need to change how valuable parents of especially young children, view the importance of college scholarships. It can be assumed that parents are suppose to one’s encouraging fair play and fun in sports but in many cases they are the one's taking that away. On page 345, Farrey says that the benefit of travel teams for kids is to eliminate future competition. This reveals the mindset that we as a society have adopted, which has a very individualistic and non inclusive. Farrey used this to show how youth athletics is depriving children the right to play sports, especially if they are eliminated in grades as low as middle school. This contrasts the idea that athletics is a human right because it implies that not everyone will make it, only the

“The Most Expensive Game In Town” by Mark Hyman is a book with a loud voice trying to reach its reader and spread its word. The book is a written opinion on youth sports and how everyone is getting pulled into “my kid deserves all this (equipment and money) and will hopefully become a pro and because I put in so many funds, he has a better shot getting a scholarship.” This is basically Hyman’s argument in a nutshell, especially in the beginning. Hyman writes to the public to show which I realized while reading, is that youth sports has a lot of negatives and is poorly ran by people, businesses, government. WIth that said, we can’t help it because without these organization or businesses whose going to help pay for all these tournaments and leagues. Hyman questioned in the early stages of the book, “for young athletes is more always better”. With businesses trying to use youth sports as marketing, sporting goods stores give parents the “more” option and the tease to spend even more money.

In the essay, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” Jessica Statsky puts an argument on how competitive sports activities for children between the age of six and twelve can leave a negative impact on their well-being; both physically and psychologically. She mainly focuses on the damage that occurs due to the involvement in non-contact as well as contact sports, at every level from local to that organized nationally.

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.

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.

“Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser,” Vince Lombardi once said. This saying could be the unsung anthem of American sports for children and teenagers. Everyone loves to win. In sports there is always competition. Is there too much emphasis on “the win” for kids and teens? This issue is important because it essentially develops the way children and teenagers think and react; it will affect them later on in life. Too much emphasis on winning is a problem because there is extensive pressure from parents and coaches, and the consequences can be severe.

Organized youth sports are extremely common among youth and their families, with nearly 45 million children and adolescent participating in the US. There are many characteristics children can develop while playing sports such as confidence, self-esteem, and leadership. Competition can help kids improve learning and reach greater levels of excellence than they would be able to without the ongoing challenge. Competitive sports can also help keep kids active and healthy as they grow, along with decreasing other distractions that may lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. People argue that competitive sports can destroy self-esteem and lead to dissatisfaction. Children can learn to hate sports and physical activity, fear taking risks or trying new things, are scared to fail or make a mistake, and start to believe that winning is the most important thing in life. Programs and coaches that overemphasize winning, early specialization, stress, and overuse injury are all problems in youth sports. This paper examines the positives and negative aspects of competitive youth sports such as skills gained, lifestyle changes, lowered obesity rates, early specialization, untrained coaches, increasing injury rates, and my own personal experiences throughout sports.

Throughout many aspects of the article, Gorn reveals evidence that sports are intrinsically tied to the development of power and superiority. “Above all, brutal recreations toughened men for a violent social life in which the exploitation of labor, the specter of poverty, and a fierce struggle for status were daily realities” (Elliot J. Gorn, 2001, p. 22). Individual status was never permanently fixed, thus “men frantically sought to assert their prowness” (Elliot J. Gorn, 2001, p. 21). Based on aggressive self-assertion and manly pride we can see that there was a fierce competition and struggle for social standing. If we look at sports today, we can see that sports are more than just a contest, an effort to impress judges or a struggle for

On the day of August 8, 2000, in the town of Middlesex, Missouri, a father was charged with beating up another dad to death in an argument over their sons’ youth hockey game. The next month his son pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for giving a rival player a paralyzing injury. A famous saying is that this apple did not fall too far from its tree. For example, an adult involved in youth sports (either as a parent or coach), already know that children today are a lot more involved in sports than they were when they were a kid. As a child athlete, their mind is set on one and one thing only, going professional. On the other hand, do the kids think of the cuts or bruises, the screaming of the coaches or even the pressure of their parents?