In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete by Jessica Statsky”, the author lays emphasis on the worries at hand regarding the way children are handled in sports. According to her, children below the age of fourteen years old are involved in a lot of competition in school games. Competition among school children is mostly applicable in baseball and football. They are mostly encouraged to win the game rather than to gain teachings and the required exercise. It is argued that both parents and coaches want their children to win in tournaments in order to gain fame on their side. However, this pressure is at the expense of the required physical exercise required for the effective growth of the children. Based on the many tournaments that have taken place in schools, most of the coaches of baseball and football teams give much emphasis on winning the game in order to lift the adored trophy. If a team wins trophies, the competence of the coach will be recognized. At the same time the parents put pressure on their children to win tournaments so that the talent of the latter can be recognized.
According to Jessica, parents and coaches have imposed certain standards on children that are playing. However, these standards seem to be unbeneficial to the children since they are meant for the adult generation. For instance, the preparation of children for tournaments may involve a lot of physical that may not be beneficial to them. Too much physical for the children may affect them both physically and emotionally. The playing of baseball and football involves physical contact among the players. Some of the children may end up being injured while playing these games. Due to the injuries received from the playgrounds, most of the affected children have been psychologically disrupted. Some of them have changed the perception of playing baseball or football. This has led to a reduction in the potential future players who would be trained well to gain experience.
The author generally points out that children should be trained skills that fit their standard. This means that they should be engaged in sport activities that will enhance their effective growth. According to her, children playing for a school team are usually very happy and enthusiastic during training. The mood of the team players will change once the coach starts giving orders. This shows that competition among the children does not give a pleasant mood. Therefore, parents and coaches should integrate standards that ensure that children enjoy sports. Finally, the author of this article argued that playing is part of growth for children. Therefore, children should undergo proper training that suits their age and size in order to prevent physical injuries. In addition to this, parents and coaches should not put pressure on children to compete in order to win.
Response
According to me, the thesis in this article has been clearly stated by the author. The author has stated that children have been engaged in a lot of competition. This is basically true based on the inter-school competitions that take place each year. Participation in this competition has involved a lot of sacrifice. For instance, the players know that the game will have a lot of physical contact. Due to the pressure to win from the parents and coaches, the players will play diligently, facing the risk of getting injuries. The arguments of the author are clearly supported since they are evidenced by the past events. Past events show that many young players have been injured while playing baseball.
Jessica has done well in explaining why competition among children becomes unsatisfying. She uses the imposition of certain standards to explain her arguments. From this, we are able to know the purpose of her arguments. It is clear from her arguments that adult standards have affected the perception of students on sports. The arguments of the author are believable since they involve real life situations that affect our social welfare. She clearly explains the welfare loss that is realized from the use of extra physical force by the children. The arguments of the author are also consistent since her ideas flow from the physical preparation of the children to the actual playing in the fields. The coaches’ emphasis on winning and the actions of the children in the play ground have been clearly interconnected in this essay.
The above points show that the author has made a consistent argument that is believable. However, there are certain flaws that can be identified in the essay. For instance, the author argues that most of the children that take part in playing drop from their teams before they attain sixteen years old. She specifies this number to be more than 80% of the team participants. However, the reference for this information may be termed as being inappropriate since there are many teams that remain intact even after defeat. More so, her reference for this information was Dr. Roberts, who is conversant with muscles. Therefore, the overworking of muscles is not a sufficient ground for children to drop out of their teams. Despite this flaw, it is arguable that the article has played a great role in improving the welfare of children.
