Athletes By Kevin Simpson Summary

In this week’s reading, Chapter 24 discussed the trouble that many young, Indian athletes face when it comes to both their athletics and academics. Living on a reservation can make it difficult for these athletes to develop the mentality and attitude that could drive them toward a successful career. I agree with the author’s claim that there exists a seemingly unbreakable cycle for these athletes and I will outline the premises for such an argument in the following paragraphs. In addition to this, I will include my arguments in support of these premises below. Kevin Simpson’s first premise it that if these athletes who are growing up on these reservations look to the actions of their parents and elders, then they will most likely follow in their parent’s footsteps. Simpson follows by providing evidence that these students and athletes are in fact looking to the actions of their parents and elders; therefore,

Children and even teenagers are easily persuaded to behave a certain way when they see those around them behaving in that manner. It almost seems like the right thing to do in the mind of the teenager. For this reason, when teenagers see their parents and surrounding community heavily drink and abuse drugs, they are more likely to get involved with those things too. As Simpson said, “ Once it becomes socially ingrained, it’s a vicious cycle” (221). As a result of all of this, the youth that is influenced by their parents will then go on to influence their own children, thus continuing cycle. Because this cycle is so hard to break, those who want to escape through the means of sports find it incredibly difficult. The cycle is analogous to a sort of force, whose power seems stronger the harder on tries to escape it. Ultimately, if this cycle continues, no little to no improvement will come in the representation of Indian athletes in all