Analysis Of The Article Position On Dodgeball In Physical Education

Solid Evidence Creates Winning Arguments Arguments happen often, and it can seem like the louder and more boisterous person will often win, however facts are always the key to an argument winning in the end. Between the two articles, “The Weak Shall Inherit the Gym,” by Rick Rielly, who claims that dodgeball is a necessary part of kindergarten through twelfth grade physical education, and the article, ”Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education,” by National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), who claims that dodgeball is not a necessary part of kindergarten through twelfth grade physical education. The article, “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education,” by NASPE presents a more effective argument because they are able

To begin, providing solid evidence in an argument is a key to the effectiveness of that argument. In the article, “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education,” by NASPE, NASPE claims that dodgeball is not an appropriate activity for kindergarten through twelfth grade school physical education programs. To support this claim with solid evidence, NASPE quotes professional testimonies such as this, “According to NASPE Appropriate Practices for Elementary School Physical Education (2000), “in a quality physical education class teachers involve ALL children in activities that allow them to participate actively, both physically and mentally. Activities such as relay races, dodgeball, and elimination tag provide limited opportunities for everyone in the class, especially the slower, less agile students who need the activity the most” (NASPE 1006-1007). This shows, that by quoting an expert testimony from the field that is concerned with the involvement of dodgeball in physical education, that this is to be considered a solid piece of evidence that is factually sound. Furthermore, this provides strong evidence in the form of an expert testimony, that is consistent with the claim that NASPE is

However, Reilly’s emotional appeal comes from personal experience, which is not considered solid evidence because it is only relative to Reilly, and not the majority of people. The personal experience that Reilly shares is, “We had a bully, Big Joe, in our seventh grade. Must have weighed 225 pounds,… We also had a kid named Melvin, who was so thin we could’ve faxed him from class to class. I’ll never forget the dodgeball game in which Big Joe had a ball in each hand and one sandwiched between his knees, firing at our side like a human tennis-ball machine, when, all of a sudden, he got plunked…. Joe whirled around to see who’d done it and saw that it was none other than Melvin, all 83 pounds of him, most of it smile” (Reilly 1010). This use of a personal experience does not uphold as solid factual evidence, as it does not concern the majority of people. To put it a different way, this story is specific to author Reilly’s personal experience, and does not provide any factual evidence that would support Reilly’s claim that dodgeball should be included in kindergarten through twelfth grade physical education curriculum. In contrast, NASPE uses sound statistical evidence