Kids should be involved with sports because it prevents obesity. In The New York Times article,” …show more content…
Sports Promote Healthy Weight in Teenagers,” the author explains that playing on a competitive sports team and even just walking/biking to school can help prevent being obese. It states,” Overall, only 10 percent of students in the study were “active” commuters walking or biking to school more than three-and-a-half days a week.” “Active commuting, the study found, lowered the risk of obesity by 33 percent.” Walking or bike riding to school does not contribute a lot to preventing weight loss, but it does help some. Being on a sports team could help even more, though. Competitive sports are competitive, so kids are working hard and being challenged at practices. All this work and exercise helps children to not as likely be overweight. They are going to practice around 2-3 times a week, sometimes even more. Exercise is important in a child’s life and being on a sports team is one of the best challenges and choices for the kid. In addition, kids should be involved in competitive sports because it helps them learn how to accept criticism and be under pressure. In the article,” Get off that couch and play!” the author explains how in sports, you learn how to accept criticism and be under pressure. A lot of times, kids are doing something , but they feel pressured because their parents are watching and/or they think that they need to win. Being on a competitive sports team can help kids start getting used to the pressure and criticism. In the essay it states that young athletes can “learn important life skills such as how to accept criticism, how to handle oneself under the pressure of competition…Many children who compete on sports teams also experience a heightened sense of belonging to something larger, and have shown increased signs of confidence and self-esteem.” This confidence comes from not being nervous, by learning to get used to being under pressure.
Once kids have been through a year or two in sports, they start to forget the pressure and remember the fun. There may be those times when you are at your basketball game, the score is tied and now you have to take the free throw to win the game. Some kids may feel the pressure, a lot. Others may just shoot like it’s nothing. That is because they are used to the pressure. When you are on a competitive sports team, you get used to pressure. Then once you are used to the pressure, then you can start to have more fun. Lastly, children should be on a competitive sports team because you learn how to work as a unity and and social skills. In the article “Why I Don’t Want my Kids to Play Team Sports,’’ Jeff Pearlman states ,” When the game ended, we’d all go out to the neighborhood bar to talk and eat and drink the night away.” Once you join a team, you start to make friends. These
friends could be those special people in your life. After your game, you may go out to dinner with all of your teammates. This togetherness and unity is one of the best and most important part of sports. In the end, the idea of sports and why they were created were so people have fun. After winning or playing a match, you just go out to eat. One other little thing is in the article “Get off that couch and play!” Lucy Calkins talks about the importance of sports. It says,”This is especially important during adolescence when students are developing self-images and social skills.” Social skills are a huge part of being a team and communicating with each other. Talking and getting to know each other can be hard at first, but then you create a unity and friendship with your teammates. In conclusion, children being a part of a competitive sports team is important. There are many kids on competitive sports teams. Sometimes kids get hurt or push too hard, so they can’t do what they love anymore. Kids can also have too much pressure on them. They may give up because they think that the sport is to serious for them. On the other hand, there are many positive factors and outcomes for being on a team like this. Being on a team like that can prevent obesity, help working as a team, and you learn how to be able to work under pressure. There are many other good, beneficial ways on how sports impacts kids. Being involved in sports is a great thing. You find your passion and your friends. It is just up to the parents if they want their child to be on a sports team. Even if you aren’t involved with sports, you should be involved with the argument of whether children should be on a sports team or not.