Persuasive Essay: Should Children Have Competitive Sports?

“I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you, if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football (President Barrack Obama)”. American Football is a full contact sport played by two teams of eleven players move the ball forward by running and passing . What makes it so dangerous is the amount of hits players receive during the match and during training. Letting their kids play football is a rising concern for many parents due to the amount of injuries and even deaths that happen on the field. Chris Borland, a professional player, retired from football aged just 24 due to concerns about his head injuries. Therefore, one may argue that parents shouldn’t let their kids play football for fear of injuries and concussions occurring on the field. Quite oppositely, kids should definitely be allowed to engage in playing football which will make sure kids stay in shape and do better in school.

Contact sports are the reason kids are getting hurt. Contact sports are good for kids.

“Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” by Jessica Statsky is a thoughtful insight on the competitive sports for children. She is of the view that the competitive sports can ruin the enjoyment that games are supposed to provide. These methods of playing the games like adults can prove to be lethal for physical and psychological health. The author quotes from an authentic source that “Kids under the age of fourteen are not by nature physical.” (Tutko) This means that the games for children need to focus more on their pleasure and enjoyment rather than on the competition. Competition only makes children bound to be winners. It also discourages sportsman spirit. Instead of being a source of healthy growth, these competitive sports have started becoming the source of depression for children when they don’t fulfil the expectations of their parents. These sports should enhance the sportsman spirit in children and must be beneficial for their mental and physical health. Concentrating on winning or losing spoils the fun that games hold. In addition, equal chances should be provided to every child to participate. Competitive nature can assist the children in their life later on, but the focus should be on better mental and physical health. (204 words)

Every year 300,000 students are participating in sports (Gould 1). The School District has been funding the athletics program, which has been benefiting many of the students’ lives for several years. The discontinuation of high school sports will cause many students to loose the health, social and educational benefits provided by participating in athletics. The School District should continue to fund sports because they benefit students.

If you have ever been in sports or school athletics, act fast! Schools are getting rid of their sports and we need to stop it. “Being a student is harder than ever. You are being held to tougher academic standards-and so is your school. The stress can get so intense, it feels paralyzing. That’s why it is important than ever for schools to invest in their athletic programs,” states the sports article “Should Schools get rid of Sports.” Schools should keep their sports programs because they help improve academics, help improve mental and emotional health, and improves social skills like being on a team.

Frances is a field hockey player for her school team. One day, she got her report card and saw she got a C+ in Spanish. The next day at practice, her coach told her she was off the team--Even though Frances had been trying her best in Spanish. Frances thought this was unfair and ceased putting effort into Spanish. This is an example of how a child could be negatively by the No Pass, No Play rule. The No Pass, No Play rule requires students to acquire excellent grades to play sports. Children in the same situation as Frances could be discouraged to try in school or even drop out of school.

There is a fine line between whether kids should play competitive sports. Some believe that sports has too many negative impacts for it to be positive. However I strongly believe that kids should be involved in competitive sports for many reasons that make sports a positive activity. For instance it provides a healthy lifestyle, and competitive sports can teach very valuable lessons in life that will carry with them forever..

The amount of children participating in competitive sports has been on a steady decline in the past decade. Between the years of 2008 and 2013, the total number of children participating in competitive sports has dropped by approximately 2.6 million. This is mainly due to the many negative impacts that young athletes face when partaking in these sports. Competitive sports involve sports where competition is encouraged, and where winning is more important than anything else. Competing in these sports causes the children to be vulnerable to many risks and many other negative impacts. Children who participate in competitive sports at a young age experience more serious negative impacts than positives, including a risk of severe injury, losing

Have you ever wanted to live an active and healthy life, as well as an improvement in grades? I believe youth sports will help all of those problems and many more. Most sports are team sports that also teach your child teamwork. Playing youth sports is a terrific experience for you or your child.

“In the U.S., about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries each year” claims Stanford Children’s Health. It’s definitely true that competitive sports can cause all sorts of injuries from big to small. The media teaches people simply that sports leads to horrific injuries and can cause stress, but what the mainstream media hardly discusses are the great benefits of competitive sports. While there may be some negatives to competitive sports, that’s just life, and to add on to that; there are plenty of benefits which are sure to override to media’s facts. Kids should play competitive sports because competitive sports teach children powerful life lessons, contributes to their social and mental stability, and because of the physical gain competitive sports provides.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky tries to demonstrate the negative effect of organized sports on the physical and psychological health of growing child. She claims that the games are not festive but they end up in the wrong development of a child’s brain. The coaches and parents have high hopes for their children that result in the pressure building. This changes the purpose of sports from teaching tolerance, teamwork and sportsmanship to merely winning by all means. The writer further explains that the idea of winning sometimes causes severe injuries that may prevail for a lifetime. In these games, a child may crash into one another accidently that creates a fear of getting hurt. Just to protect themselves some children back out of many games and are left behind when it comes to the development of their bodies. The rest of the children who are part of these games are in a constant pressure from their parents and coaches that cause the stress and anxiety. Furthermore, the writer states that this “sport becomes job like”. Children are playing just to win and the real spirit of the game fades out. (Word count: 196)

To most kids and students, competitive sports are a gateway to blow off some steam or to have fun. To parents, the sports that their children play and the lessons that they teach are an important part of their development and life. Despite what many ‘experts’ would like you to believe, both of these statements are completely true. I believe that kids should be allowed to play competitive sports due to the health benefits, the lessons that they can teach, and as a result of the advanced equipment and rules that are focused on making sports safe, as well as the fact that sports can keep kids out of trouble.

The turf is lit up by the blazing sun. A crowd of parents and family fill the bleachers with cheers in their mouths. The play starts. All the players form a perfect positioning and hand off the ball. Going going gone. A boy cheers with a childish grin on his face. He falls over in joy. Youth sports is a hot topic in today’s world. With so many kids participating it was bound to become something of discussing. Should kids play competitive sports? While some parents believe that the competition can harm kids, I believe that sports can greatly help kids. Making them experience healthy competition and become more well rounded contributing members of society.

Competitive youth sports have many benefits for kids and teens. However, many other people are convinced that sports can have a negative impact for children. But, there are still more positive effects in competitive sports. I believe that sports are beneficial for kids because they develop long-term life skills, improve physical well-being and health, and help expand their social skills.

Nearly all Americans love sports but is it really worth it. In this generation, competitive sports has become more dangerous than ever sports experts are starting to worry that competitive sports has a more negative effect than a positive effect on children. Most competitive sports can lead to severe injuries, pressure which can lead the youth using illegal drugs, and all the money parents spend on their kids to play sports is ridiculous, and worst of all most children are starting to burn out of sports emotionally and physically.Competitive sports do not have a positive effect on all children because of the cost, pressure/injury, and enjoyment.