Position Paper Kids and Sports
...e (Martens, 1978). Not only are physical injuries prone to those children who participate in a sport every season, but their mental health starts to decrease also (Lord, 2000). The children start to show signs of fatigue quickly and their immune system will become weaker. When a growing child does not receive the recommended amount of sleep (eight hours) that child is going to become more susceptible to disease and getting sick. Not only is this stress unhealthy for the child playing the sports but it can be unhealthy for the other people involved (Wahl, 1998). The health of coaches, parents, officials and umpires are just as much at risk. Parental brawls happen quite often at their children’s sporting events (Lord, 2000). If a parent does not agree with a call by the official he or she may become raged (Lord, 2000). They need to realize that being an official is a tough job. Spectators need to let the Officials referee the game. Granted that not all of their calls are correct, but, if the parents feel that they could do a better job than he or she should do it (Carbral, 2000). Children are going to see their parent’s poor behavior as okay. This is going to cause the “copycat effect.” Due to this the child will become more violent on the playing court or field. “A Maryland father, disappointed that his son had been left off the all-star team, knocked down and kicked a coach” (Lord, 2000, p.4). Parents are taking the fun out of children’s sports; they need to realize that this is something that is fun and enjoyable for the children (Wahl, 1998). Adults should be there for support and encouragement for their children. The National Association of Sports Officials has worked with fourteen states to pass laws imposing stiffer penalties on people who attack sports officials (Cabral, 2000). Adults should be there for support and encouragement of their children. The last factor is pressure. Why are children being forced to perform at such a high level? Parental pressure is the number one cause. Adults expect their children to do something that should only be an entertaining part of the child’s lives (Johnson, 1998). An example of parental pressure on a child is for financial issues. Parents believe that if a child starts to perfect him or herself for the game than they will receive a scholarship to a highly competitive college (Ferguson, 1999). Scholarships are nice to get while going on to college, but are they really worth risking your physical health to get one or more? Another component is peer pressure, kids pressuring kids to a competitive game of one on one basketball, who can hit a home run, or even who can swim a lap in the fastest time (Ferguson, 1999). Children are only young once. The parents need to allow them to go about their life in the way the children want to, to a certain extent (Cabral, 2000). There are many reasons why kids’ sports should be emphasized. Sports also have positive effects on children. People who agree that children should participate in athletics at a young age feel that they will build good time management skills (Ferguson, 1999). Does being pressed with many activities to do in one day shows the child how to budget their time? Many parents will agree that this type of pressure does. This is a necessary skill, which will be used in the child’s future. A Peewee League football coach from Minnesota has noticed that when he asked his players what time was good for all of them to have practice the next day. The players started to run through their schedules of what they already had planned. He notices that they are trying to budget their time. The children remembered back to what homework they had to do that night and how long they think it would take them. Another reason that adults feel that it is a good idea for the child to perform at a young age is because of the health factors involved. Parents feel that if the children are involved in physical activity it will help them to maintain their physical health (Ferguson, 1999). A mother of a 10-year-old girl says that, “My daughter eats 3 well-balanced meals a day and she takes her vitamins daily.” Also stated was “Her physical activity and well-balanced diet will educate her and in turn help her to fight common diseases in her future (Martens, 1978 p.3). The third component is pressure. Even at a very young age of 3 and 4, parents are starting their children in athletics. Parents are pressuring at a young age to help with their different types of physical development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development is the most important. A child may have to remember a kicking technique, a new way to swing the bat or even, just the rules to the game (Werner, 1979). Comprehension and memorization are the keys to sports. Most parents look forward to the future of their child while they...