Argumentative Essay On Dodgeball In Schools

Riley Vaughan

Mrs. Scott

ELA Period #6

19 January 2023

Effective Facts Make Stronger Arguments There have been many worldwide disagreements, but facts and logic can sway people one way or another. One of the ways to convince people to side with your opinion are articles. Some articles can be misleading, but one can look at evidence to see which side they want to be on. “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education,” by The National Association for Sports and Education (NASPE) claims dodgeball should not be included in schools, while “The Weak Shall Inherit the Gym,” by Rick Rielly claims dodgeball should be included in schools. NASPE presents a stronger argument regarding the inclusion of dodgeball in schools because they use effective facts

For example, the passage “Position on Dodgeball in Physical Education,” by NASPE, argues that dodgeball should not be used in grades kindergarten through twelfth. NASPE thinks that dodgeball is not a necessary sport to help kids get physical education. In fact, “ 61.5% of children aged 9–13 years do not participate in any organized physical activity during their non-school hours and 22.6% do not engage in any free-time physical activity. One-third of high school students are not adequately active and over 10% do not participate in any physical activity at all. 16% of U.S. youth aged 6–19 are overweight—triple the proportion of 25 years ago” (NASPE 1006). As one can see, these statistics show the trustworthiness of the author. NAPSE uses this piece of evidence to prove their claim

To provide more context, slippery slope is where an author says if one thing happens, something worse will happen. Rick Rielly states, “ So, if we give them dodgeball, you can look for these games to be banned next: Tag Referring to any child as it is demeaning and hurtful. Instead of the child hollering, “You’re it!” we recommend, “You’re special!” Baseball. Involves wrong-headed notions of stealing, errors and gruesome hit-and-run. Players should always be safe, never out. Capture the flag. Mimics war. Kick the can. Unfair to the can. If we let these PC twinkies have their way, we’ll be left with: Duck-duck-duck. Teacher spends the entire hour patting each child softly on the head. Upsy down. The entire class takes turns fluffing the gym teacher’s pillow before her nap. Swedish baseball. Players are allowed free passage to first, second or third, where they receive a relaxing two-minute massage from opposing players”(Reilly 1010). Rick Rielly is using a logical fallacy to support his opinion, which is part of a weak argument. In addition, this shows poor reasoning and does not prove to be a sound argument. NASPE focuses on factual evidence and does not use illogical reasoning. They say that “in a quality physical education class teachers involve ALL children in activities that allow them to participate actively, both physically and