Drugs. Cheating. Domestic Violence. These are the words that are often associated with sports. The news and other media outlets as well as professional athletes have given sports a bad name. When in reality sports have a positive impact on children. Sports impact children in a positive way because it teaches them important character traits, teaches them how to be socially active, and encourages education. Sports are physically demanding. Children practice, train, and compete weekly. Through this constant work, they learn how to be hard working, which is an important trait to learn.
Being a hard worker is a trait that is forged through sweat and hours of work. They learn that it is not about natural ability. It’s not about being the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest. It’s about who puts the most work on and off the field. So it encourages kids to go above and beyond barriers that life and society has placed for them. Motivation is “the will or desire to keep going. ” Life is tough. There are moments when we feel like we can’t keep going. Moments when we are knocked down to the ground and don’t know if we can or even want to get back up.
When those moments hit us we can’t stay down we have to be able to get up and keep moving forward. Children learn through sports how to get back up. How to keep going. In sports you face tough days. Days when you don’t know if you can keep going. There are days when you lose. Coaches and parents always tell children “you can’t win them all. ” Children learn that “getting knocked down is a part of life but staying down is a choice. ” Children learn what drives them to not only keep going but how to be a better person. When you think of discipline you often think about the military.
You imagine men and woman in a uniform and boots marching in a straight line. Now sports aren’t going to turn your children into a highly trained and efficient soldier but It will add structure and discipline into their life. It teaches them how to be organized and how to take control of their life. Routines allow children to be focused, organized, and how to handle a schedule. These are traits that will be beneficial to children when they reach high school and adult hood. “Childhood obesity is a major health concern. Approximately 17% (or 12. 7 million) of children and adolescents aged 2–19 years are obese. (Childhood)
Processed food, technology, and children being less active have led to a national problem. Children are growing up with health problems such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and many other things. Sports are a positive way to promote health and physical activity. Children are staying active in a fun way. Children are often quoted to be like sponges because they soak up everything. People usually say this so that other grow ups watch what they say around the kid, but its true children are easily susceptible to their environment. Children who play sports are more likely to grow up into adults living a healthy life style.
It’s better to start off the kids at an early age so that they can build the traits early. “Health benefits, including decreased risks of high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer, according to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. ” (Lawrence) “What you want Baby, I got it. You know I got it, all I’m askin is for a little respect, when you get home (just a little bit). ” – Arthena Franklin. Respect is what we all want. The older generations of people often complain about how “kids now a days have no respect. Sports are a simple yet sure fire way to help children develop respect. They develop respect not only for their elders. Since they are in constant contact with a coach or an instructor they learn how to distinguish between an adult and an other child. This respect that they give to their elders leads to respect for themselves.
“Sport provides an opportunity for children to safely navigate and negotiate between right and wrong as they learn to interact with peers and adults” (Psychological). Children (male and female) who play sports are more likely to eat fruits and egetables and less likely to do drugs. (Result) Kids who play sports are also less likely to commit suicide (Result2) Like I’ve mentioned before children are like sponges. Therefore, it is important who they grow up watching. Children grow up wanting to be like the person they look up to. Not every child is blessed with a healthy and stable house hold. Children have the probability of having the wrong role models and mentors. Children who enter sports are more likely to listen to what adults have to say. This opens them up to creating a bond with their coach.
Children who are in sports are more likely to grow up with positive role models such as Marshawn Lynch and Cliff Avril who are building homes and schools in Haiti. (DaSilva). other athletes who are doing great work not only in spo in community’s around the world. Our society isn’t perfect. We have people growing up in poor neighborhoods that are doing nothing but harm for the children that live in them. There are gang violence, drug use, and anger in these neighborhoods. Children grow up watching this type of chaos. They often follow the path that has been “laid out” for them.
Children can use sports to escape from the mess that they live in. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for example, are using sport and play programs to encourage young people, particularly girls and young women, to attend school within refugee camps across the world. ” (Healthy). Like I’ve mentioned sports teach traits that help shape children. Such as being a hard worker, being able to motivate themselves, discipline, living a healthy life style, and having respect for others and themselves. The lessons they learn through sports will not only help themselves be better people, but it will also translate into success when it comes to work.
We have a large population of at-risk youth and sports is a great way to help them turn into successful adults. Sports helps children avoid drugs and gangs. Children who don’t participate in sports are more likely to have trouble with the law. (Positive) Caron Butler a NBA player who plays for the Sacramento Kings was born in poverty. He began selling drugs at an early age. Which lead to him being arrested 15 times during his youth. He was child who faced hardship and criminal charges at an extremely young age. He began to grow a love for basketball and after years of hard work and determination he received a scholarship from UConn. Havervold) For the first four years of a child’s life they are in constant contact with their family.
While this might seem like a good thing into can turn into a child being shy and antisocial. I’m not saying all children need to be social butterflies, but they do need to be able to interact with other people. In their childhood and professional lives children will need to be able to work with people. Sports not only builds and shapes the individual child who plays it, but it also builds their interaction with others. Participating in team sports teaches them to think about the group as a whole and encourages them to be happy for the success of their teammates” (Lawrence) Children learn how to be team players. When they play sports they can’t win by themselves. It requires collaboration and communication. “Data from the study shows that African American student-athletes are 10 percent more likely than non-athletes to plan to take college AP courses and 10 percent more likely to make plans for attending college”. (Morris) Sports are a great way to promote education. It gives children a reason to pursue education.
Sports help children build character traits and skills that will help them achieve more in school such as confidence. Children are more likely to attend school when they are involved in sports. Children are students first and athletes second. I heard this often during my years of playing sports. Coaches understand that sports are there not to create “super stars” but to create future woman and men who will grow up and be successful leaders of the world. Coaches and parents use sports as tool to promote education and to ensure children will be successful in school. Sports are an effective way to bring and encourage children to go to school.
Although sports have been given a bad name and reputation due to the professional athletes and franchises that have given the sport a bad name. Sports have been filled with drugs, domestic violence, and corruption. NFL players such as Ray Rice and Greg Hardy have made splashes in the media because they beat their girlfriends. We have also have players like Josh Gordan and Martavis Bryant who will not be playing next year because they broke the NFL substance abuse policy. The FIFA president Sepp Blatter was recently arrested and accused of embezzlement. The media has been focusing on the negative aspect of sports.
Not because they want to shed light on what’s going on, but simply because they are trying to sell stories. When in reality sports impact children in an extremely positive way. Sports help children build character traits such as being a hard worker, having respect for others and themselves, how to motivate themselves when life gets tough, more likely to live a healthier life style, be disciplined, and have positive role models. Children learn how to be socially active, which is an important thing to learn at a young age. They learn how to communicate with other people and the outside world. Sports help promote education by encourages