The Negative Impact Of Competitive Sports On Children

The amount of children participating in competitive sports has been on a steady decline in the past decade. Between the years of 2008 and 2013, the total number of children participating in competitive sports has dropped by approximately 2.6 million. This is mainly due to the many negative impacts that young athletes face when partaking in these sports. Competitive sports involve sports where competition is encouraged, and where winning is more important than anything else. Competing in these sports causes the children to be vulnerable to many risks and many other negative impacts. Children who participate in competitive sports at a young age experience more serious negative impacts than positives, including a risk of severe injury, losing

According to a research report from Loehrke, a young athlete suffers a sports related injury that is severe enough to go to the emergency room approximately every 25 seconds, or 1.35 million times a year. The most prominent of these injuries were concussions, which accounted for 163,670, or 12 percent of the total 1.35 million injuries (Loehrke). Dr. Alexander K. Powers, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, found that most children who suffer concussions recover, but the prognosis for children who suffer recurring concussions is unknown. Recurring concussions could lead to several disabilities later in life, such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer 's disease, epilepsy, and many other neurological disorders that would require a substantial amount of surgery to cure, if they could even be cured at all (Powers). Putting a child at risk to suffer injuries, such as the ones listed above, is one of the main reasons why the amount of children participating in competitive sports has been dropping

Children experience more harmful negative impacts, rather than beneficial positive ones, such as being at a constant risk of severe injury, wanting to opt out of sports early, and being under high levels of stress and anxiety. These impacts could lead to children being injured for an extended amount of time, children being inactive and unfit later in life, children dropping out of school, and many other catastrophic circumstances that children should not have to put up with. The opposing side suggests that children who participate in competitive sports experience positive impacts, such as staying healthy and in shape, and having positive psychological benefits. In some instances, these impacts may be true, however families with a child athlete opted for fast food, ready-made meals more than those of families who did not have a child athlete. Also, while competitive sports provide some psychological benefits, it has also been proven that they can cause stress, anxiety, and ultimately, attrition for the young athlete. Children being vulnerable to harmful situations, such as the ones listed above, is one of the main reasons that the total number of children participating in competitive sports has been diminishing over the last few