Explain Why Children Should Not Play Competitive Sports Essay

Children Should not play Competitive Sports

Imagine you are in the middle of your son’s football game. They are winning 14 to 28, in the last quarter. You think the deal is sealed, and your son’s team is going to win. All of a sudden, just before he throws the ball, he is sacked by the opposing team. You can hear the whack from your seat in the stands, and the crowd winces as he goes down. You crane your neck to see if he is alright, and he doesn’t get up. In today’s world, sports are a big part of a country’s culture. Most families have their kids involved with some kind of sports team. Although, there is an issue that has been debated about this popular topic. Should kids really be allowed to play competitive sports? Some think they should,

For example, more than 775,000 children ages 14 and under are operated on in emergency rooms each year from sports-related injuries. No one want to be in the hospital with a concussion, or something worse for an injury caused by a sport they love. Stanford Children’s Health, a children’s hospital, says, “More than 775,000 children, ages 14 and younger, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year.” (Stanford Children’s Health, 2018). This takes time away from school, family, and friends. What would you rather do? Be out in town, hanging out with friends? Or, in a dreary hospital room with no one to talk to, recovering from a surgery? In addition, if you get hit in the head, your parents have to take you to neurologist, or brain doctor. If it is worse, then they have to go to a hospital. And the costs for treatment are not low. For example, Cost Helper Health says, “For patients not covered by health insurance, the typical cost of brain surgery ranges from $50,000 - $150,000…” (Cost Helper Health, 2015). The average person doesn’t have $50,000 just lying around, and that is if you are lucky. Your child getting hurt can break your heart and break the bank. Others might say that the chances of getting a hurt from a sports-related injury are very low. I argue that they are more common than you think. In fact, there were 119,589 injuries from basketball alone

For example, most sports teams you have to try out for. Some kids do get in, while others do not. If you are one of the latter, then you could be sad or depressed that you didn’t make the team. Then, you might feel like you are not good enough, and start thinking negative thoughts about yourself. Eventually, this could lead to depression, which is not something any parent wants to see in their child. One time, in Art class, some of my friends were talking about the lacrosse tryouts, which were the weekend before. They were discussing who got on which team. I asked, “What’s the difference between the A team and the B team?” since I know nothing about lacrosse. My friend answered, “What team you get on defines how good you are.” She had a sad look on her face, so I assumed that she did not get on the A team. This proves that not getting on the team can make kids feel bad about themselves. Furthermore, if they even do make the team, every team has their losses. This can make the child angry or upset, which causes a change in their attitude. For example, last weekend, my brother’s team lost the big playoff game in the first round. The coach was holding a team party after the game to round out the season, however when we told my brother this, he did not want to go. He was so angry that they lost, he did not want to go hang out with