Essay about Whywhy Children Should Play or Organized Sports

Children who participate in sports are less likely to be overweight or obese, have higher self-esteem on average, and are generally more invested in their academics. Sports are oftentimes seen as a gateway to academic opportunity, particularly for kids with fewer resources. While this logic is inherently problematic, it is true that high schoolers who were involved with organized sport were more likely to be enrolled in college later on. Youth sports also give children a place to develop socially by teaching them about teamwork, leadership, and compromise. Team sports in particular can provide children with a sense of belonging to a group, and therefore increase their self-esteem and improve their social competence. There are dozens of reasons why youth sport is important and beneficial to a child’s development, and with millions of participants each year in the United States alone, it doesn’t look like youth sports will be going anywhere anytime

Many people argue that competitive sports raise numerous amounts of pressure on the youth making them distracted from things such as their education and because it can cause severe injuries, but some people argue that youth should play competitive sports because it teaches major life lessons that can help with many different aspects of their future such as college, getting a job, and many more. Playing competitive sports also improves your physical strength, another physical aspect of playing competitive sports is decreasing your chance of being obese or having disease. If you don't prefer to play competitive sports there are alternative options such as biking or walking to school. In an HT Health article “Sports Seen As Key Weapon in Fighting Teen Obesity” it says that in a study with 1,700 kids, ten percent walked or biked to school 3 ½ days a week,, in the study they found that biking or walking to school lowered the risk of being obese by 33%. I argue that kids should play competitive sports because of the important life skills taught through these sports and the physical benefit of playing sports. In this paper I will explain how communication, time management, and lowering the risk of being obese; supports my claim, “Kids should play competitive sports”

For years, Americans have been told that exercising and staying active is imperative to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In general, this fact holds true for all generations and age groups, including the youth of today. Children simply need to exercise and participate in more physical activities in order to maintain a high level of health. The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools suggests that, “one of the leading causes of this epidemic (childhood obesity) is a marked decline in physical activity and athletic participation” (“Athletics in Schools”). Childhood fascinations with watching television, playing video games, and browsing the internet are just a few of the sedentary hobbies taking over children’s free time to be active. Therefore, mandating physical activities in schools across the country will effectively reduce the frequency of this major, obesity health crisis in young students. Understandably, a plethora of factors cause and influence children to become overweight and obese, but working to fix each evident problem will, in the end, contribute to finally ending the developing childhood health crisis.

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.

Sports can be viewed as a learning environment that helps individuals learn life lessons, foster strong work habits and develop core values all the while learning a sport skill. Youth sports that truly benefit young athletes should be structured to emphasize participation more than just competition. Children enjoy a sport more when they are able to have fun (Humpries). Despite many excesses some sport programs still manage to promote important virtues like self- confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility, coping skills, and persistence. Through sports kids can learn to stay organized and learn how to prioritize (Ferguson). Sports enables development of physical skills and increasing proficiency makes kids feel good about themselves. It teaches kids that failure is something to overcome and and not to fear (Meyerhoff 8-9). Youth sports has many aspects that are truly benefiting for children, but these benefits are slowly being clouded by the negatives that are prominent in today's youth sports.

An issue that is hotly debated is, should kids play competitive sports or not. It’s clear that the overall people feel that competitive sports are good for kids. Competitive sports teaches kids life lessons, makes them more responsible and teaches them healthy habits. Millions of American children and teenagers are overweight. This obesity epidemic has made the early onset of health problems such as diabetes, are more common. Over forty millions of boys and girls were participating in organized competitive sports in 2008, and this will help bring down the obesity rate.

Participation in youth sports in the United States is on the rise. “Organized youth sports are highly popular for youth and their families, with approximately 45 million children and adolescent participants in the US” (Merkel, 2013). There are many benefits for children that can be attributed to sports such as: physical activity, learning motor skills, sense of belonging, stress relief, and many more. With childhood obesity on the rise recreational sports has never been needed more than it is today. “Over the past three decades, the incidence of obesity in children has tripled, with one of every three children being affected” (Merkel, 2013). Obesity has many long-term health problems related to it such as: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure cancer, asthma. We can attribute this health problem to changes in our society over like increased technology, increased crime rates, fast food and isolated suburban neighborhoods. Sports and other physical activities are needed to keep children from causing further damaged to their future.

“See you a practice!” is a phrase that most people will say to their friends throughout childhood. Thirty-six million children in the United States play a sport. That is over half the children in the United States. However, even with that statistic, some children are still inside all day watching television or playing video games. Many parents do not enroll their children in a sport because they believe it will result in injury, or the child is going to feel left out. Some even believe that their child will be looked down upon if they are not as good as everyone else. They believe that if the child has more time on schoolwork it will raise their grades. But most children love to play outside and learn new sports. It is a part of a child’s nature to run around and have fun. Only some parents realize that children who play a sport can have more discipline than those who don’t. Sports can also give children experience working with others as a team as well as confidence in themselves. Children and teens who play sports are more likely to have higher confidence, be more disciplined, and work better with others.

When most kids play for typical leagues whether they are fun leagues or competitive leagues injuries can happen. The injury rate is slightly higher then children with sedentary lifestyles. Studies have shown that children that are not exposed to sports are less likely to play them later in their adolescence. This country has a growing epidemic of overweight youth. Children subconsciously about fitness in a fun manner. Active kids typically remain active throughout their life

i. In the article “ The Impact of Sports on Adolescent Development” published in Forum on Public Policy in 2013, D.C Jack conducted a study that found

Physical activity also has benefits for children's social and emotional development and cognitive development. These benefits include being part of a team and making friends through group sports, which have a major impact on social and emotional development. The effect of obesity on children is closely linked to many bad health habits such as diet, smoking and drug use which in turn can affect a child's academic performance (Goran et al., 1999). Physical activity, if encouraged at a young age, can reduce the likelihood of children developing these behaviours and focus on their academic performance and cognitive development. As children in this age range are in their fundamental development stage, it is important that educators and parents alike, teach children about the importance of physical activity at a young age in order to prevent health and social well-being problems in their adult years.

In 2008, 30.2% of youth ages 6 to 12 were active to a healthy level through sports(“Facts”). This shows that some kids are getting the minimum amount of physical activity. To raise this level, all kids should include sports in their daily life. All kids should be engaged in sports. Regular activity is required for good health and high school athletes are more likely to attend college.

You are worried about your child going to get injured in his first game of football. Little did you know, there's nothing you should be really worried about. In fact, sports to young children or teens might seem dangerous. But on the other hand, it is just a fun sport for young children and teens to play. Sports also makes kids and teens active in a fun way and sports makes kid entertain themselves. Although sports seems dangerous, teens and young children should be allowed to play sports because sports makes them healthy, higher scores in school, and makes kids less depressed (sad).

Sports are embedded in many American schools in a way they are not anywhere else. One element of our educational system consistently surprises them, “Sports are a huge deal in American schools,” says Earl Smith of the New York Times. The positives have always outweighed the negatives in the case against high school sports. As Sato Kai state, “The benefits of sports as part of the education process are abundant and sometimes beyond quantifications,” According to many academic specialists, sports offer formative and life long lessons such as: discipline, responsibility, self confidence, and accountability. These skills can furthermore excel your later life and give you a greater chance of being employed in a high level job. Participation in high school sports helps your later development as an adult and teaches you life long skills that can't be taught elsewhere.

Parents should be educated about healthy choices, and healthier foods should be available wherever kids are present. There should also be programs that support physical activities, and entertainment should be in moderation. The obesity epidemics will continue to escalate if our leaders in every level do not step up. With the increase of technology, the more our children will continue sitting rather than moving or walking. They are exposed to more computers, video games, movies, and television shows than ever. The result is gain of weight because of the overall time spent expending daily calories. The habits of health lifestyle start from childhood with a strong family involvement. It is proven that lack of physical activity associates with the ongoing surge in obesity. On the other hand, involving our kids in physical activities along with extracurricular sport is associated with increased academic success which also leads to physical wellbeing. Community leaders, along with parents need to work towards a healthy future that includes exercise as part of a daily routine.