Children Need To Play Not Compete, By Jessica Statsky

Statsky’s Argument is Not Explored Broadly Enough In the article “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” by Jessica Statsky, the author describes how the competitiveness of organized sports that have been popular among many young American children in recent years can have damaging effects on their physical or psychological well-being and proper development. Statsky said an apparent disadvantage of competitive sports is young children’s vulnerability to physical injury. For instance, she mentioned about Professor Tutko’s claim that many contact sports such as tackle football are physically harmful for young children. Besides that, children’s fear of getting hurt can also discourage them from engaging in sports activities as she refers to

Summary In “children need to play, not compete” writer Jessica Statsky stresses upon the negative effects of organized sports on children. She claims that when all the “adult standards” are imposed on the children they are not valuable. She also states that these sports are developmentally inappropriate for the growing bodies of the children and also affects them phycology. These sports emphasize on the winning aspect that is pushed further by the parents and the team coaches who expect more from the children in the result of which children are pressurized.in most of the cases the children who lack self-confidence are neglected and are left behind because of the coaches preferring the children with more developed skills.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete.” Jessica statsky brought forward a pressing issue of competitive sports that has now become a part of our lives. Statsky claims that these competitive sports have a harmful effect on a child’s mind. The extreme physical pressure is quite damaging as well. The injuries children face can sometimes take forever to heal itself.

Although she may not be famous she is still credible in a way, because she uses credible sources to backup her claim on why it is not good for children to be exposed to competitiveness at a young age. Jessica Stasky n.d. is an American college student who wrote “Children Need To Play, Not Compete” for her college composition course(Jessica Statsky, n.d., 270 para. I). However, Jessica Statsky is not fully credible since she is only a college student writing about why people should not support children playing competitive sports at a young age. In “Children Need To Play, Not Compete” Statsky writes about how it is unhealthy to put children in at adult standards in relation to competitiveness.

Statsky wrote an essay called "Children Need to Play Not Compete". In this essay she talks about how competitive sports are not good for children. Statsky's point in "Children Need to Play Not Compete" appears to be better for the children since she tells how these sports affect the kids in negative ways. Her theory tells the reader why these sports aren't satisfying or beneficial to children (page 236), but doesn't show them how well these sports can improve children in many different ways. Competitive sports teach children responsibility, respect, social skills, and they can very well help them prepare for their

Dr. Frank L. Smoll states, “All children and youth need vigorous physical activity as part of their daily lives, and sports provide the benefits of exercise and the potential for acquiring a sense of accomplishment.” (Smoll 1/2).

Some kids will play rougher and more physically than others trying to do better than kids on the opposing team. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports, over the past thirty years “fractures increased by fifty-six percent in girls and thirty-two percent in boys” (see figure 1). Children and kids often continue to play sports even after injuring themselves or after being injured by another person because of the fear of their parent and or coaches expectations(s) for them to win and continue playing (Muller). Parents often do not like to see their child fail in a sport they want them to succeed in (Wallace). Furthermore, parents will also push their child into sports frequently for their own enjoyment as well as pushing them into sports to keep them in shape.

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. The first reason that I believe supports my claim is that kids gain a sense of healthy competition that can prepare them for life. This can be seen in the article “Pros and Cons of Sports Competition at the High School Level” where Grace Chen, an education researcher, writer, and educator, states that sports and competition, “...help teens develop an array of personal skills, including resilience, attitude control, time management, and long term thinking abilities” (Chen 6).

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. One extremely important reason that forces me to take the position that kids should be allowed to compete in competitive sports is the health benefits that children who play sports recieve.

Children experience more harmful negative impacts, rather than beneficial positive ones, such as being at a constant risk of severe injury, wanting to opt out of sports early, and being under high levels of stress and anxiety. These impacts could lead to children being injured for an extended amount of time, children being inactive and unfit later in life, children dropping out of school, and many other catastrophic circumstances that children should not have to put up with. The opposing side suggests that children who participate in competitive sports experience positive impacts, such as staying healthy and in shape, and having positive psychological benefits. In some instances, these impacts may be true, however families with a child athlete opted for fast food, ready-made meals more than those of families who did not have a child athlete. Also, while competitive sports provide some psychological benefits, it has also been proven that they can cause stress, anxiety, and ultimately, attrition for the young athlete.

Summary 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.

Competitive sports provide a community which kids can work with and beat other teams with. “Playing a sport helps children develop social skills which would benefit them even when they grow older. Playing sports teaches them about teamwork and cooperating with others. They learn to interact with people from different ages” (Mahaseth). When these kids grow up, they can use these skills to be able to cooperate and talk with their colleagues.

The author Thelma Gomez, says “Playing sports is an important elemen5t in the lives of many American children.” And she is correct. Sports can make kids the next David Wright, the next LeBron James, the next Eli Manning, or the next Lionel Messi. The best part of sports is that you're improving your physical health, psychological health, social skills, and academic benefits. Physical and phychological health can benefit a child in many ways.

Some people don’t know the benefits of playing competitive sports, but After reading my essay I think you now know most of the benefits and maybe from now you might see competitive sports in a different way. Playing competitive sports matters because it has a huge impact on your life. If you are a parent reading this easy I think you should allow your child to join and play competitive sports it important that children stay healthy. For kids not everyone is good at all sports but is better for kid join and try out new things and remember it’s not all about winning but it’s also about

How Competitive Sports is Beneficial Children at a young age have a lot of energy, To solve that problem, they are sometimes put into a competitive sports team. Many will disagree and say that this is unacceptable , while others say that it is beneficial. Children should be able to be put in sport teams because most children play sports as a passion,and it not only benefits them with being athletic and healthy, It's also favorable to children because only its a game, it also teaches children morals, and life lessons. One reason Children should be able to play sports, is that playing sports is beneficial to the kids health.